


Home

by Flyinggoddess



Series: Home [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF Hatake Kakashi, BAMF Uchiha Sasuke, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Behavior, Canon-Typical Violence, Epic Bromance, Everyone is an adult in this., M/M, Naruto being badass, Ninja, Not Canon Compliant, Not actually super powers just chakra being awesome, Romance, Superheroes, The Author Regrets Nothing, Time Travel, adult Naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 51,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27343993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flyinggoddess/pseuds/Flyinggoddess
Summary: While on a dangerous mission, a 21 year old Naruto not only gets transported through time, but also to a different earth. Where ninjas disappeared long ago and the modern world thinks he's a superhero.Now he's trying to get home and along the way meets the family he never knew he needed.kinda superhero themed but he's just his ninja self and everyone is impressed.Romantic KakashiXNaruto, bromance SasukexNaruto and ItachixNaruto. Nice Sakura.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi & Uzumaki Naruko, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Home [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2125017
Comments: 101
Kudos: 282





	1. Naruto

**Author's Note:**

> READ BEFORE PLEASE  
> Hi, this is my very first fic :)  
> This fic Is a KakashiXNaruto but veerryyy slow developing. and Epic bromance with Sasuke and Itachi.  
> its unbetaed , so I'm sorry in advance for all the mistakes, english is not my first language.  
> This fic has been in my head for years now.  
> I have no idea when the updates will be :) so don't ask please.  
> Not canon compliant , I changed everything in the ninja world and no regrets.  
> Everyone is around 20-21 years old except kakashi who’s around 29, Itachi around 27 and tsunade is around 45.
> 
> Sasuke, Sakura, kakashi, Itachi and tsunade and a lot of other Canon characters don’t exist in Naruto’s world in this fic.  
> So they don’t know eachother. So events kinda happened, but differently.  
> It’s slow on the romance, and more on action, cause I love action.  
> Enjoy! :)

The day everything changed was a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the horizon, not a spec of foreshadowing to what would become the strangest but also the biggest clusterfuck to ever happen across earths. Yes, earths.

It was around 8h35 in the morning when a sudden shrilling sound started around the apartment from a small alarm clock. Its echos disturbing nothing but air fora few minutes until a hand appeared from under a lump of covers to clumsily stop short its miserable sound-given life, making it tumble on the floor. Bleary ocean eyes opened to look at the time on the fallen victim on the floor only to close again as if in pain, bringing his arm back in to the confines of his warm cocoon and turning his head away from the infernal machine having woken him from a ramen filled slumber. The lump on the bed didn’t move for a few precious seconds, before exhaling a big sight no one would hear.

A bright blond head finally appeared from the hot confines of the bed and blinked into the empty apartment. Naruto brough a hand to his eyes, trying to scrub the gunk accumulated during the night. Then proceeded to pass a hand through his unruly spiky head to get a semblance of order through them. They were getting long again, the spikes almost arriving at his shoulders but not quite touching. He was starting to look like his father more and more. He didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.

Having though about his hair more than he’d like to admit, the blond got up and off of the inviting bed, and dragged his boxer clad self into his little bathroom. The apartment was small, naruto not needing much space to begin with since he was always on missions or outside. It was one big room containing his bed, bedside drawer, and across from it a small dinning table with the kitchenette and fridge in the corner. The bathroom he was currently occupying was no bigger than a closet, with a small shower, sink and toilette he was currently using.

Yawning and still rubbing his eyes, he finished his business and brushed his teeth, getting to his fridge with the toothbrush still hanging from his mouth. He opened the door and peered inside for something to eat. His mission failed spectacularly when he only saw a piece of butter and a rotten salad he never had the heart to throw away but never planned on eating. It was from the old man Sarutobi, and he wasn’t planning on telling the poor guy he wouldn’t eat the damn salad. Closing the door in defeat, he silently promised himself a good meal at the ramen stand before going to work.

Going back to the bathroom sink, he spit out the toothpaste and put the toothbrush away. Donning on his trademark orange attire, he looked again at the abandoned clock on the floor and noticed it was 8h50. He hurried and put on his sandals went to grab his wallet by the door, when he was stopped by his calendar on the wall. It wouldn’t have grabbed his attention (it was a present from a few months back, something about always getting the dates wrong for meetings) if it weren't for the Colorful square, full of smiley faces and orange highlighter on today's date. Konohamaru’s work no doubt from the last time he visited and they spent the night getting drunk on liqueur they had stolen from old man Sarutobi’s private collection. An experience he would not repeat under torture for what followed that morning after(It included headache, vomiting, and an earful) Not being able to get drunk easily didn’t mean the fox wouldn’t let Naruto get sick or have the worst hangover in history.

“Happy birthday to me” Naruto uttered with a small smile, promising himself to buy a small cupcake as thanks to Konohamaru later. With that thought in mind, he opened to door to a new day and flew out on a roof towards the ramen stand.

21 years after the attack of the kyuubi on Konoha, the village was flourishing with activity and life. A few years ago they even started the tradition of a festival, agreed upon by the council, to celebrate the heros who fought during the monstrous attack and the hard won battle. Little kyuubi masks worn by children chasing each other littered the streets, and small game stands stood out, daring people out loud to try and throw a Kunai unto the cardboard beast and defeat it (Who in their damn mind brings a stand of kunai in a ninja village anyways? Everyone and their mother would win).

Naruto swept the small feeling of unease away, continuing on his way. The village having never forgotten the attack, they did mellow down on their hatred of him and what he stood to remind them. It took a lot of hardships and lonely childhood to get over the fact that this village that would always be his home would never completely accept him in their folds. It wasn’t really their fault, after all, he was the container of the kyuubi, the one reason their beloved Hokage died and most of the ninjas fighting it. Bringing upon the town a destruction never seen before. Their hatred turning into gruging acceptance over the years, and then to happy indifference when they understood that he was completely under control (He feels more than hears Kurama wake up in his head briefly to scoff and go back to his slumber).

It was a a bit touch and go during his teenage years, feeling left out and having to constantly prove himself useful, worthwhile, worth something. Constantly having to fight for his control and his life. Until Jiraya made his access to the kyuubi easier during his training years, which finally allowed him to sit down and talk(more like scream) with the beast inside him until a truce was made between the two of them. It took years for them to finally come to an understanding, become more than enemies and less than family, into a territory neither ever really experienced.

Friendship.

Understanding, complete trust. For him, having never known his parents, the old man Sarutobi and his grandkid Konohamaru were the only family he has ever known. They treated him as if he mattered and took care of him in their own little ways (the rotting salad in his fridge and his marked calendar solid proof in his opinion). But Kyuubi was a friend. He understood the pain and the loneliness and would tell him without pity or judgement what he really thought of a situation( most of the time the words used would be swearing and incomprehensible threats of bodily harm to the other party, but that wasn’t the point).

Shaking his head a bit to stop his uncalled for deep thinking, he skidded to an halt on the rooftop just in front of the Ichiraku ramen stand a few meters down.

Jumping down and sauntering over to the stand, he greeted old man Teuchi, glad to see the friendly face bright in the morning. Waving hello to his favourite(more like the most spendthrift) costumer, the chef started on Naruto’s order without prompting. After all, it was always the same.

For once, Naruto waited in silence, which was a bit odd for the blond, but the day excused his normally chattering habits. Every building in the block were preparing for the festival tonight, and old man Teuchi understood that while it was nothing against Naruto, he might prefer to keep it a little quiet today. No need to attract attention to him. The blond ninja was still in his little daydream when a giant bowl of Ichiraku ramen suddenly appeared in front of him. The smell already making him salivate, he wasted no time in taking the shopsticks and digging in after a small Itadakimasu. He may be inhaling his food on a daily basis, but there was no need to be impolite to the hand feeding him after all. Or paid to feed him. Details.

A presence sat down besides him while he was eating, and at first choosing to ignore the presence, it made itself known with a loud cough. A bit annoyed to be bothered while savouring his meal (this is what heaven feels like) he turned around and was met with the withered face of the current Hokage.

Old man Sarutobi was not supposed to be Hokage. Having retired his title at the tender age of holly-shit-he-is-old, he had passed the title and its paperwork to Naruto’s late father, Minato, more than 25 years ago. Alas, life had other plans for him, and the Kyuubi attacked, and he had to don the hat anew after that night. It was no secret that he had a soft spot for Naruto but, while working, he could be a ruthless leader. That often meant he had to send Naruto on dangerous missions, even if he didn’t particularly want to. Constantly pressured by the council to make use of the kyuubi vessel (he has a name thank you) to protect the village against its numerous foes. Him being here could have been a happy sign, but the weathered face told him another story.

The normaly loud mouthed blond stopped eating for a second, acknowledging the man with a small nod, before going back to inhaling his breakfast. With a sigh, Sarutobi wasted no time on pleasantries, meaning this was more important than Naruto first assumed. “Naruto my boy, I am afraid I have an important mission for you. I know you were supposed to go to Wave country with Jiraya today” he put a hand on his face, as if bracing himself, “but plans changed, it cannot wait I’m afraid.” Naruto looked sorrowfully at his now empty bowl, wondering if he had time for seconds, when he registered what the man said. He looked up and directly at his face, “ But, we were supposed to finalize that boring trade agreement with them! And I’ve been waiting to see that bridge they finished building a few years back. Apparently they named it after me old man, me !” Naruto said, waving at himself as if anyone else around could mistake who he was, or even forget it. His energy was replenished after his heavenly meal.

Thanking Teuchi the chef, The Hokage accepted the glass of water that was put in front of him but didn’t touch it. He focused his gaze on Naruto, narrowing his eyes and immediately knowing that getting out of the village had been more of a blessing in disguise than anything else for him. “I’m quite sorry about the bridge Naruto, I’m sure you’ll get to see it another time.” He said with no small amusement in his eyes, Seeing that bridge was a plus, but anyone that knew even a fraction of Naruto, knew that he didn’t have a bone in his body fit to be a mediator, and they all new Jiraya would do most of that particular work for the trading agreements. The real reason behind that trip had also been to get Naruto out for a few days and think of something else than the festival currently underway. “I already informed Jiraya you would not be going with him, as this new mission is quite time sensitive.” he continued on. He looked a bit to his left, where no doubt an Anbu was out of sight and keeping an eye on their Hokage.

As if summoned by thought, an Anbu with a dog mask appeared and gave a sealed scroll to the old man, and disappeared out of sight again as quickly as he came. There was no doubt in Naruto’s mind that an Anbu team was placed around them to make sure no one would be listening in on their little conversation. Teuchi didn’t really count, as he had seen so many ninjas at his stand over the years with sensitive information and talks, he knew when to turn head and cook something in the back of his stand when a situation presented itself. No doubt one of the numerous reasons why a lot of shinobis loved to eat here; Fast, delicious and discreet.

Now serious, Naruto took the scroll presented to him out of the old man’s hands and wasted no time to bite his thumb until a small bubble of blood emerged from the appendage. He then proceeded to put the bleeding thumb on the seal of the scroll, unsurprised when the seal made a “shhhk” sound and opened up the paper inside. Having done the same gestures for years, no one even bats an eyelash anymore at the showy seals or the blood. Sceeming across the text (God its written so small do the people writing these things even have pity for mortals like Naruto?) He feels his eyebrows raise before even finishing the first paragraph. “Time travelling?” He says, raising his head to look at the man in disbelief. “ I’ve never heard of a jutsu capable of doing that. It sounds ridiculous.” And he knows ridiculous okay, he has a nine tailed demon fox trapped in his body and constantly fought bad guys trying to conquer the world. This just sounds crazy with extra steps!

“You get now why this is such a time sensitive (Cue snickering at the pun) matter, we cannot ignore it. A jutsu of this magnitude, if revealed to be true, could have devastating consequences for our world in the wrong hands. I presume I have no need to tell you that this kind of jutsu practice is one of the most forbidden” Sarutobi says, as his eyes sweep across what he can see of his village, decorations of foxes around them. Understanding dawns on Naruto, imagining even a fraction of what could happen if the Kyuubi attack happened differently, or even any other war in the ninja world, with the advantage of future knowledge. The person could change anything, have nations at its knees before they even begun their reins. The implications were too vast for the blond, and he was already feeling a headache coming on.

“ Our Anbu team managed to get an aproximate location on the man. You are to investigate the rumour, and if possible, either put a stop to it or bring back the evidence if you can.” He continued on, as if it was an other day ending in Y for him. It probably was.

'Evidence' implying he was to try and bring the man back dead or alive he though grimly. “Why trust me with this? Not that I’m complaining, but I’m not the highest ranking, I’m not the best for investigation missions or the fastest and we all know it. You can’t possibly think I’m the best ninja for the job.” The blue eyed blond said, heavily implying what he couldn’t say out loud : He had more reasons than most in this village to use the jutsu for his own gain and change his life. Not that he would ever even think of doing it, but he knew most people didn’t trust him yet. There was a big difference between accepting him and trusting him, and try as he might, he wasn’t there yet.

The old Hokage looked a him in silence with a pinched expression, as if debating lying to him or telling him the truth. He knew lying would get him nowhere with the young boy (Yes, for him he was still just a boy) and silently cursed himself for playing a part in the boys lack of belief and selfworth (Even if he never did say any of the words the villagers uttered, even if he condemned anyone from treating the boy as less than the hero he was supposed to be viewed as, he assumed the responsibility of the village, and knew he failed quite a bit a it). “You have my full trust, I wouldn’t give this mission to just anyone, and I know you’ll do the right thing.” He finally settled on saying after a prolonged silence on both part. It was more than he thought of saying, but no less the truth. He had a feeling his protégé needed to hear the words, most of all today.

Naruto swallowed, choked up on what felt like a giant noodle stuck in his throat. He briefly wondered what it would be like to die because of ramen, because that would be just his luck. Embarrassing wouldn’t even begin to cover it.

At loss of words for what to say, he simply settled on a small “All right old man, no need to get sentimental on me”. Seeing no need to delay the inevitable, Naruto got up, took out a bill to pay for his meal, threw his thanks at the old man Teuchi, and went to start the mission hands in his pockets and head held high. He had everything he needed already with him.

As he started walking towards the village gates, he stopped when he heard the Hokage speak again. “Oh and Naruto?” He said with a small smile, seeing him off from his bench. He’d taken out his trusted pipe to start smoking before having to go back to his office and mountain of paperwork. “Happy birthday.” He said.

Naruto couldn’t help the giant grin, teeth included, that took over his face. Helpless happiness at having not one but two of his precious people remembering his birthday today. Waving goodbye at the old man and turning his back, he continued to walk towards the village gates, a happy little spring in his steps.

———————-

The mission was pretty straightforward now that Naruto took the time to read it a bit. Go where the rumour is, (A barren place between Konohagakure and the limit of the desert leading to Sunagakure) investigate (Barge in, demand to know what the hell is going on), take action if necessary (Beat the idiots ass and bring him in for practicing forbidden jutsus) and come back home.

He was assigned his usual partner for the mission, Sai. He and Sai had a friendly relashionship, but no more. He didn’t know much about Sai’s life, but they both understood each other enough to know they each had a crappy childhood and would respect that. More than that, he made Naruto a bit uncomfortable with his strange obsession of dicks and drawing them. He drew the line (Ha) when Sai kept asking to see his on one memorable mission and they ended up fighting and destroying a part of the forest. Now its just the name calling and occasional joke. _Better than the alternative._ Naruto thinks, shivering at the memory.

He hears laughing and almost turns his head when he realizes that the throaty laugh comes from inside his head rather than outside. Scowling at the fox internally, he kept walking up to the now visible gates and waited for his partner to show up. _F_ _inally woke up you lazy furball?_ He thought rather loudly, just to see the fox in question cringe at the volume. He settled against a nearby wall in wait.

 _Brat, you think I have anything else to do around here in that empty head of yours?_ The fox said, with a wide toothy grin. Joking about his predicament often left a stale taste in his mouth at the beginning of their weird friendship. But he soon understood that the fox had no resentment towards him for his predicament, and more towards his father for emprisoning him in a baby out of anything else. Years went by and Kurama came to accept and even be, dare he say it, content of his current life inside the young adult. Their easy arrangement allowed him to get out sometimes to fight and unwind his metaphorical legs a bit. Added to that the legendary clumsiness of his host provided enough entertainment for a lifetime.

 _Maybe I can imagine a ball for you and let you play fetch in there then._ Naruto fired back, grinning at the idea of the giant fox playing ball and their easy banter.

He felt more than heard the snarl directed at him and smiled a bit wider, always happy to talk to his friend.

 _I have a bad feeling for this mission kid._ The fox said, changing the subject. _I’m hundreds of years old_ (cue Naruto snickering) _Shut up. And even I wouldn’t swim in that kind of practice. It’s impossible, and even if not, no mere man or ninja would have the quantity required of chakra to even attempt it. No one has ever done it before that I know of._ Of course the kyuubi would know exactly was was going on, he lived inside his head after all. _No secrets, ever._ He though a bit gloomily.

 _Don’t go pessimistic on me now old fox._ He said/thought, scratching the back of his head out of habit more than real itchiness. _Maybe the guy is a crazy bastard, wouldn’t be the first one. Or the last. Don’t worry about it, we got this._

_Big words now Brat? Been reading the dictionary while I was sleeping were you?_

_Shut up you b-_

“Oi, small dick.” (Cue Kyuubi snickering this time, the bastard) Startled out of his internal conversation and cursing at being caught of guard, Naruto looked up to see Sai coming towards him with one of his infuriating fake smiles. Groaning out loud, he got off the wall and towards his soon to be dead teammate. ”Stop calling me that damnit.” He said as he looked around to see if anybody else heard.

Sai continued to smile “ Well, since you refuse to show it to me, I had to improvise on your size.” He says, drawing out his little sketch book. “I assume you already read the mission briefing? Since the Hokage said it’s time sensitive, We can take my ink bird to get there faster. Half a day if we don’t stop.” He said to the blond. 

Already grimacing at the idea of travelling in close quarters with the creep for more than a few hours, Naruto acquiesced with a nob and stood still as Sai proceeded to draw his favoured giant bird. He then started to do his hand signs and whispered “Super beast imitating no jutsu.”

The drawing came to life in front of them. Even as a creep, there was no doubt in his mind that Sai was an artist. Seeing the numerous beasts over the years of working together come to life each time with elegant flowing lines of black ink was always something Naruto loved seeing in action. Even when Sai was under duress, where the lines were hastily drawn, the beasts often appeared more ferocious, more aggressive because of it, sharp lines making a contrast. But he would never tell the other man that. No way in hell.

Jutsu finished, Sai was already waiting for him on the bird. Not wanting to loose face, he muttered loud enough for him to hear “I would like it if you just stopped even thinking about my dick, you perv”.

Sai just continued to be the creep he was (his default face really) and held out a hand to help Naruto unto the bird. Not needing the help but not wanting to start a new debate, he grasped the hand and jumped on the back of the bird just behind Sai, ready to face the world.

(If only he knew)

A small weight lifted off off his shoulders at the same time as the inked creation took its flight. Looking back at the now already smaller village in the distance, glad for once to be away from the festivities celebrating the defeat of the monstrous Kyuubi, and far away from the people wishing he was never born.

\---------------

They did stop a few times, took a few breaks. One for Sai to get some strength back, since his chakra reserve was not like Naruto’s (An endless supply to most people, but he knew he had his limits) and a second time to eat. Because eating on a inked bird almost guaranteed the victim to get black ink all over their face. Naruto had some hands on experience of that one, and you could imagine his face when his bastard of a teammate didn’t say anything until AFTER the mission was complete, making an utter fool of himself at the time.

He often wondered if he could murder his teammate in his sleep and pass it off as an unfortunate accident. Not worth the paperwork. But a reassuring thought no less.

Appart from a few barbs, Kurama stayed unusually silent for most of the ride, something in his gaze cautions and anxious. He was acting like an animal in a cage (Pun/irony intended). He paced and was restless, getting Naruto restless at the same time.

 _Oi Furball! Would you stop making rounds in my head, what’s gotten into you?_ He mentally said, making sure that Sai was otherwise too occupied with their itinerary to notice Naruto not so subtly roll his eyes at himself. The beast didn’t say anything at first, and it was that small second of hesitation that got Naruto starting to get worried. Kurama was never hesitant, was never soft with his words, was never anything else than a go-getter just like him. Which was one of the main reasons they got along so well. They were loud, they were more fists than words, and they (Almost) were never afraid to go into danger and risk everything for the right cause.

 _I have a bad feeling about this mission, something’s not right._ The fox finally said, a grimace full of sharp teeth peeking out. _You already said that,_ Naruto thought/told him. He looked around them, as if the source of the bad feeling would spring out at them and attack, but it was just endless forests on each side of the travelling bird. _Listen, we’ll be more careful this time. Don’t worry so much about it. We’ve faced worst than a crazy guy trying to travel through time. I think._ He said internally, remembering all the other bad guys they defeated over the years. Good times, Mostly. Pain in the ass, mainly.

He was taken out of his revelry by Sai announcing that they would be arriving at their intended destination in 2 hours time. Of course they would not arrive at the site directly by bird. Even they knew to be a bit more subtler than that. The plan was to land a few kilometres short of the place, take a long break for Sai to recuperate enough for him not to be useless, and run the rest of the way. The sun was not high in the sky anymore, but it would still be a few hours before sundown. They had plenty of time.

Once they arrived, Naruto wasted no time in jumping off of the back of the inked jutsu. He yawned and took the time to stretch his back, hearing a small crack and wondering if old age was finally coming for him at the tender age of 21.

Sai, having come down from his bird and making it disappear, told him to get the rations. Finaly having something to do that coincided with helping Sai out was no hardship for him, so he took out the dry food they had from a bag Sai had brought (When he said he had everything he needed earlier that day, he might have forgotten food. He needed food. Good thing his teammate knew him so well.) and went to sit besides him against a tree. Sai gratefully (As grateful as his face could be really.) took one of the bars from him and started eating silently, having taken out the mission scroll to read through it again.

" From what the other team gathered, the man is named Ichinorida. No apparent family name, but he seems to possess a bloodline that was not identified." That got Naruto's attention. After all, bloodlines were often deadly and rare but almost never unidentified.

"They thought it was a bloodline because he was seen growing two horns on his forehead while using his chakra. Everytime" Sai continued, raising an elegant eyebrow himself at the odity of it. "Not much else that could be usefull to us here. He's been researching time traveling jutsus and attracted attention to himself after stealing forbidden scrolls from the Hidden Wave village and the Hidden Valleys village. The Hidden Valleys village were the first ones to call on us for help since their relashionship with Sand is tumultuous at best." He continued on.

Tumultuous at best was a generous word, thought Naruto. Since that small village was right smack in the middle of Fire country and the Land of Wind where Sunagakure was situated. Sunagakure was a Village full of hot blooded heads like Naruto, but more bloodthirsty than him that was for sure. Relationships between Konoha and Sand were strained, and he wouldn't be surprise if a war broke out in the next few years.

"But simply stealing scrolls isn't reason enough to be a time sensitive mission, or they would sent some jounin to take care of it. Or even ANBUS if the guy was too strong to handle. " Naruto mentioned. He didn't really know his rank in the village, but he liked to think of himself as an S-class since they just kept sending him on world-altering missions. Or Jinchuriki class. Was that a thing?

 _Concentrate you idiot._ He heard Kurama say in his head, half amused, half preoccupied.

 _Right_. Back on track. Sai was looking at him with a knowing look. "Well, if you'd taken the time to read the mission briefing completely, which I know you didn't, you'd know that he killed off easily 5 ANBU that tried to take him on. We were not the firsts to get this mission. Odly enough, they never could recover the bodies of those ANBU" The look was replaced with an apprehensive one, surprising even Naruto.

"Thought I do wonder why we don't have more backup with us, considering the level this Ichinorida guy must have, and why we haven't heard of him sooner." Sai said. The blue eyed Ninja didn't really want to think on that question too long, lest he start wondering why they kept sending him alone or with only one person as backup on each and everyone of his missions.

He could hear Kurama in the back of his mind wispering that they _never trusted him and never will_.

And there went his good mood from this morning. T _hanks Kyuu._ He thought sourly.

"Thats not important, c'mon, we've wasted enough time here, lets get this over with and beat this Itchi guy to a pulp" He answered, getting up, dusting off his pants and closing their bags to start the journey on foot. Sai silently followed his lead and in a few minutes they had erased their presence from the spot in the forest and started their race towards the mysterious man's hideout.

It took them less than an hour to get to their destination, the sun had set about half an hour ago, but the the full moon and the plethora of stars in the clear sky gave enough light to get by easily.

The hideout, if it could be called that, was a small rocky cave on the side of a cliff. Only one way in and one way out. No easy way to enter undetected.

It was easy to sense the charkra inside the cave, if one could even miss the light emanating from the mouth of it. The guy was not even trying to hide himself. That meant he was either cocky, or knew he could take on just about anyone.

Naruto started to sweat a bit, he turned to Sai besides him and made a sign for him to scout their surroundings and report. The black haired ninja nodded and set to work on drawing little mice and ants before bringing them to life and letting them explore. Surprisingly enough, they reported no traps, and no animals for miles around. He never even noticed how silent it was in the forest surrounding them until they realized it.

Thinking back on kyuubi's words and feeling strangely unbalanced, he signaled for them to move. He summonned two shadow clones silently and proceded to send them in their stead inside the cave.

Create a diversion, get the guy to come out, get him to talk and worse case, fight him on open grounds. There were just too many risks going inside the cave when the other man most certainly had the advantage.

He felt more than saw his clones close in on the entrance, backs against the walls and deadly silent in their movements. Sai's gaze was fixed on the entrance of the cave, as still as a statue at his side. Waiting for a sign, breathing through his nose.

For a moment, nothing happened.

For a moment, Naruto though it was too easy.

For a moment, he though they could finish this mission without a hitch.

But in a moment, he felt like a sucking sensation inside him followed closely by both his clones brutal demises, and during a few precious seconds, he reviewed their memories of the accounter; A big hand grabbing them each and then nothing. Those few seconds cost him, as they both heard loud laughter, the kind that gave chills to the back of his neck followed by the cave exploding right in front of them in a tornado of light and fire.

The both of them were thrown away by the explosion, most of it harsh wind and light coming from the mouth of the cave, but a few big rocks came free from the cliffside and tumbled, creating a cloud of blinding dust. Naruto coughed and tried to look around himself.

Quickly summoning his wind, he swept the dust with one movement (A neat trick he learned when he discovered his wind affinity with Yamato, but now was not the time) while getting up.

The few precious seconds he took to get his bearings right, Naruto didn't even check where Sai was. He hoped he was okay. He finally looked up, and a few meters in front of him stood what he thought was the man called Ichinorida. By that he meant that the burly man looked nothing like a normal human, and that meant danger.

His first thought was ‘white’. The man was dressed almost entirely in white, and _that cannot be practical in combat_ Naruto thought stupidly in the back of his mind. He could distinctly hear Kyubbi call him an hypocrite- _shut up_.

He was dressed in a traditional men’s kimono, with a white Haori jacket, with bright red Hakama pants to complete the look. He had big red beads that looked like glass around his neck, but upon closer inspection the red in the beads was somehow moving, like mini balls of wind. His face was similar to the rest of his attire, he had long white spiky hair, coming past his shoulder blades and to the middle of his back, and his eyes were red. Huge and crazy looking, the Color in them always moving like endless waves in his gaze, exactly like his neck beads. A wide mouth with too many teeth and a crooked nose. He had to be at least 100 kilos or pure muscle mass. The guy was huge! Easily three heads taller than Naruto, and he was by no means small. All that was nothing compared to the two giant twisted horns on top of his forehead, shining and emanating light. He looked like a bull mixed in with a man.

Naruto grit his teeth and prepared his fighting stance, glad when he finally felt Saï arrive beside him again, left hand rubbing at a small scratch on his cheek, but looking determined and unafraid. The other guy was full on smiling like a maniac, white blinding teeth on show,

“ I’ve been waiting a while for someone like you! ‘Bout time !” He said and proceeded to laugh again, giant hands at his sides as if he couldn’t stop laughing.

“What is your purpose, why are you doing this?” He heard Sai say aloud besides him. Good thing one of them was prepared to ask questions, because Naruto was on a fight or flight high, and he never ran away.

The other man ignored Sai, only looking at Naruto, as if his red eyes could see through him. “This is Perfect, I was planning on accumulating the chakra for a few more months, but it looks like you have more than enough to satisfy my needs” His smile turned cruel in a second “ All those villagers and ANBU you sent were never enough, I need more! I need yours!” He screamed, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Naruto, but this time, he was prepared to dodge the hand trying to grab him. He backflipped once, two, three times to get more ground between him and his attacker, but he had no time to get on his feet properly before he was attacked again.

Clenching his teeth, he blocked the next blow with a kunai in hand. Sai, having understood that apparently words would get them nowhere, quickly used his ink mist technique and disappeared from sight only to reappear at the mans shoulder to try and kick him away from Naruto. Sai couldn’t land the blow but it was enough to get the attacker to back off a few precious seconds. Naruto quickly summoned a new clone to try and get an advantage in the fight. The advantage didn’t last, because as soon as the man’s hand touched the clone, it dissapeared in a cloud of smoke. Surpise must have shown on his face, because the other man only grinned wider and attacked anew.

He felt that sucking sensation again at the death of his clone, and noticed a new bead appear on the man’s necklace with the same flowing red energy in it. Kurama suddenly appeared in his thoughts.

 _Be careful kid! The hands absorbs chakra, I don’t know how he does it, but those orbs around his neck are full of it! Don’t let him touch you_. The creature said, growling loudly in his mind. 

“Easy for you to say!” Naruto said out loud, dodging another hand trying to grab his neck. Releasing a small water typhoon jutsu to confuse his opponent long enough to get away, Naruto tried to go towards the forest, his preferred battle ground in the trees rather than on flat surface. In an instant, his Jutsu got absorbed again and left him no time to run towards his goal. Before the giant fist could close in on him however, several inked tigers appeared in front of him to fend of the new attack.

Turning to his right he saw Sai on the ground drawing on a scroll a few meters away from the action. Thankful for the save he quickly got to his side.

“Why the fuck is he after me?” He said with a wild look, breathless.

Sai looked a him a bit as if he was stupid. He wasn’t a genius alright? He already knew that and would appreciate Sai hurrying the fuck up about it.

“You practically have the biggest chakra reserve anyone has ever seen, and if the little he told us is true, he’s been taking all the chakra he can get his hands on. It must be his bloodline ability. And we just delivered him the biggest meal he could get.” Sai said with a pinched expression, still drawing more and more deadly animals and sending them off, continuing with the distraction while the other man continually absorded them without trouble.

“We should get out of here, regroup and ask the Hokage for backup, we’re not equipped for this” He continues on, with something like regret in his tone.

 _The kid is right brat, we don’t know how to deal with an opponent like this, our main strength IS chakra attacks, and we’ll be defeated before even trying._ He heard in his head.

Naruto was surprised by the admission, usually Kyuubi would be the first to attack headfirst and think later. Making the kyuubi nervous was getting Naruto nervous. Grimacing, the blond had no choice but to acquiesce. He hated fleeing from a mission, but risking his partner and knowing practically nothing about his opponent appart from being a chakra sponge was not something he was willing to do (The younger him would have jumped into the fight again without a care or a thought, but he wasn’t that person anymore, he wasn’t.).

“We’ve wasted enough time.....and time is precious.” They suddenly heard from behind them, and his eyes widened. 

As if summoned out of a nightmare, Ichinorida appeared just besides Sai’s head while he was drawing another tiger. With a giant evil grin, the man backhanded the ninja across the face and unto the rocky cliff with monstrous strength.

Naruto didn’t even have time to react before the horns on his forehead elongated (What the actual fuck) and he was grabbed by both his arms over his head and thrown to the ground. The strength of the attack left him breathless. 

More than a little stunned, Naruto didn’t have time to take a next breath before he was surrounded by a circle of light, freezing him in place. The bull in front of him was making signs so fast with his hands Naruto couldn’t follow a single one of them. In the space of a few seconds, he felt the hands grab his chest, and a terrible sucking sensation started deep in his chest. His entire being started burning, as if someone was trying and succeeding to skin him alive.

Trashing and trying to break free, Naruto tried getting away from the hands, but they were stuck like glue on him. A scream broke free and he continued to trash to try and get away, kicking the other man with all his might. He felt his strength leave him quickly. Dimly, he felt the Kyuubi fighting inside him and felt himself getting emptied of his chakra and energy.

“Now, I can finally go back” Ichinorida said with a laugh, white light around him becoming blinding.

Naruto continued trashing weakly, now almost unconscious.

He didn’t want to die.

He didn’t want to die like this!

He still wanted to be recognized.

He wanted to find his place in this world!

Before total darkness took over, he faintly heard Kurama let out a mighty roar, shaking the interior of his sealed cage.

_Not on my watch._

A bright explosion, followed by nothing.


	2. Sasuke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke meets our hero. Kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So second update was kinda fast. Hoping it stays like that, Hopefully next chapter Naruto finaly meets Kakashi.  
> Not beta-ed, so sorry for any mistakes :)  
> Hope you enjoy the read!

Chap 2  
Sasuke POV

  
  
6h30 rang through the vast bedroom, and even thought it was only a small melody playing from the radio, to Sasuke’s ears it sounded like the seven bells of hell; If a glare could stop his alarm without him having to move, the clock would be long dead, buried and mourned by the time he would be done with it. Alas, he hasn’t developed his glaring abilities to the same level as Itachi yet (He would swear on his dead grandma to whomever would listen, he saw the damn thing catch on fire one morning when he caught a glimpse in his brothers bedroom). Shuddering at the memory while turning off the damn thing, Sasuke wasted no time in getting up and walking to the bathroom connected to his room. Velvet black pyjamas pants following each graceful movement.

He took the time in front of the mirror to put on his contact lenses, then proceeded to get rid of his pyjamas to jump in for a quick shower. Effectively washing his body, taking more time with his hair than he would ever admit outloud, he got out dried himself with a towel. He went in the direction of his dresser; taking out simple dark jeans and a comfortable black tank top. Once done dressing, he returned to his bathroom. He stood in front of his sink and with a resolute expression, mouth shaped in a frown, proceeded to try and brush his hair at the back in an attempt to tame the spikes into submission. Satisfied with a job well done 10 minutes later, he let go to admire his creation.  
The satisfaction was short lived, as his hair rebelled almost immediately and returned to its original state; two flat bangs at the front and the rest defying gravity itself at the back of his head just to spite Sasuke on a daily basis.  
  
“You should give up already little brother. This is a fight you know you can’t win.” He heard from the door to his left.

  
Openly scowling now, The dark haired man turned his head to glare at his older brother, who was watching the scene with barely concealed amusement from the doorway of HIS bedroom.

  
“Get out of my room Itachi!” Sasuke Grumbled, his pride having already taken a hit one to many times this morning.

  
“Or what, little brother? You’ll attack me with your brush?” The older brother replied, smirking and taking place against the doorway, arms crossed, watching with everlasting amusement his little brother loose the war against his hair like every morning.

  
“Or I’ll tell Kisame about that time you killed his pet goldfish while he was on vacation.“ He threatened smugly, the uncontested expert in blackmail between the two despite his numerous other disavantadges against his older brother.

  
He remembered a few years back, when they still lived in their family house in japan. Kisame, who was his brothers best friend, had taken a small vacation from work and asked Itachi of all people to give food to his pet goldfish Samehada once a day for 4 days.  
No need to say Itachi was useless with anything with a heartbeat and the fish was dead within the hour of having been left in his big brother’s mercies.  
He remembered fondly one of the only times in his life he saw true panic in his brother eyes. He ended up pitying the man and they bought a new fish that looked just the same at the pet store.  
Sasuke was the one who fed the new fish until Kisame came back, none the wiser of what had befallen his dearest fish. He still felt a little bad about that, since the real Samehada ended up in the toilet, bless his little fish-soul.  
Still, it was all thanks to him that they were still best friends to this day.  
Itachi narrowed his eyes, and Sasuke has a brief thought that this look made a grown man pee his pants once, before he _umfp_ and left the bathroom to go and start on his breakfast.  
Sasuke threw a last long suffering look into his mirror before following his brother out of his bedroom after taking his phone from the top of the dresser and his wallet.  
  
The apartment they lived in was small. Well, it was small compared to the house they had back in Japan at least. Granted it would be a bit hard to have a century-old 3 story family house with a view on a lake in the middle of New-York city, but one could hope.  
Their shared apartment was a 4 bedroom, 3 bathrooms wide and as open spaced as it could get. They transformed one of the extra bedrooms into a workspace equipped with desk, computer and other necessities if any of the two needed to work from home. They never really did, but it was the thought that counted.  
They left the extra bedroom for when friends would visit and sleepover. Meaning, Sasuke thought with amusement, when Kisame would come and visit, because Sasuke didn’t have any friends he wanted in his presence for more than 2 hours. He liked his privacy okay?  
The kitchen was equipped with a wide black granite counter that also served as a dinning table for the two brothers.

Itachi was already in the kitchen, preparing himself a coffee, black, no sugar, like his soul. His favourite mug read ‘Devils prodigy’, a gift from Kisame he got at christmas a few years back.  
  
After the gruesome death of most of their family at the hands of their crazy uncle who-must-not-be-named and having inherited the family fortune following that faithful night, the brothers had decided, when Itachi finished school and turned 18, to start a new life elsewhere. Leaving behind their old way of life and a house full of ghosts, they set out to the American continent (Itachi had gotten a new contract from his job at the time, and thought it was the perfect oportunity for them).  
Having an apartment with an almost panoramic view of Central Park had its advantages, Sasuke thought darkly looking out through the bay windows. If nothing else, not hearing the busy streets and night life from the fourteenth floor was nice.  
  
Thinking back on the reason of their arrival here almost 9 years ago never failed to darken his mood. He tried never to dwell on the past, but it crept up on him at the most opportune of times.  
As if sensing his little brother's now sour mood, Itachi opened the fridge a placed a fresh tomato in front of him on the counter. Sitting himself down while nursing his coffee, He looked at Sasuke with an arched eyebrow until the youngest grew annoyed enough to take the damn fruit and started munching on it. Taking his smartphone out of is pocket, he checked his messages while partaking his breakfast, absently noting that the tomato he was eating tasted like the ones he liked from the green market at Queens on the 34th Avenue. He never went there himself, always thought it was too far away when they had a perfectly good market down the street from here, but Itachi insisted on going ‘because they had his favorite kind of spices’. As if they couldn’t find them anywhere else in freaking New-York. Tch.  
  
“Are you going to spend your only day off sulking in a corner little brother?” The oldest said, sipping his coffee like the damn fake ass-aristocrat he was. Sasuke grunted, eyes still on his phone.

“Its not a day off if they forced it on me. What do you want me to do? Play tourist?” Sasuke said.  
“God forbid you go outside and have a little fun for once. Do you not wonder why exactly they forced you to take a day off?” Taking his keys and wallet from the kitchen counter, the sadist got up and put his mug in the sink. “Get out of the appartment, walk around. I have ways to see if you don’t.” Heading for the door, putting on his shoes. “Besides, maybe actually playing tourist will do you some good for once, little brother.” And with that, he was out the door and out of Sasuke field of vision. Good riddance.  
  
Heaving a sigh, He finished his tomato and poured himself some leftover coffee from the pot. He glared at his mug, another gift from the fish lover. It was a grumpy cat meme wishing you a shit morning.  
  
It wasn’t really his fault he preferred work over doing nothing. He liked being productive, nothing else to it. That and people usually got on his nerves too much to even have that many friends. He didn’t need any, anyways. To much trouble, too much whining and they always ended up needing something from him. Overall a giant pain in his ass. He was better off without.  
It wasn’t his fault either that the last mission went downhill. His partners, when not Itachi, were always useless or not fast enough. Deadlasts, every single one of them.  
  
Thinking of his incompetent partners and the fact that he couldn’t go to work (Under numerous threats of death, the hag.) didn’t really help his mood, so with nothing in mind, he put his mug besides Itachi's in the sink and put on his black leather jacket and boots. Maybe a ride on his bike would clear his head a little bit. He looked at his watch. 7h35. The day was going to be long and uneventful, he felt it.  
  
  
————————-

  
  
They were few things he liked in life, and even less that he loved. His motorcycle was one of those things. He didn’t end up with road rage in traffic like his brother in his haughty car and he didn’t have to suffer humanity and their sweaty armpits in the subway. Above all; he didn’t have to listen to anything else but the deep rumble of his engine while soaring through the streets.

The moment he got out of the parking garage of his building, he new he made the right choice to take his baby out for a ride.  
  
He spent his morning riding through the city and its people, enjoying the sunny day for once. Stopping only at dinner time for a rare treat: A hot dog stand on a corner street.

If is brother knew he was eating junk food(and he has no doubts he already knew, the omniscient bastard) he would never live it down.  
  
While eating his hotdog, leaning on his ride, he people-watched a bit. Mundane people, going on their mundane businesses and lives. He didn’t envy any of them. He liked what he did, the action, the challenges, what it brought him in life. But in a little corner of his mind, a small silver of _want_ sometimes made itself known. A fragile creature Sasuke squatched most of the time. A soft voice, telling him how nice it would be, to not know. To be mundane and be happy with that utterly boring life. But no, that voice was always quickly overridden by a stronger one, heart beating against his chest and wind blowing, screaming in his mind that he wanted to LIVE and not just endure this life. To maybe leave something behind other than his steps in the mud.  
  
Deciding he did enough ‘going out and getting fresh air’ on his day off, and fuck Itachi if he didn’t agree, he decided to slowly go back to the apartment. Putting his black helmet back on, he got on his motorcycle and started the engine.

Cutting through industrial streets in the boat pier zone would be the shortest route back. It would be going around a bit but at least he wouldn’t have to pass all the red lights and cars on dinner break. Sasuke hated trafic with a fiery passion.  
As he was closing in on the now deserted place (They were all eating their greasy burgers no doubt) he got a inkling at the back of his neck and started to feel his hair stand up, like static. He slowed his bike to a stop and put a foot down, looking around, uneasy. Seeing nothing but not feeling reassured, he put on his brakes and got up. The air felt like electricity, charged and ready to explode. But with what? He had a bad feeling about the situation, and he wasn’t often wrong. Gritting his teeth, he walked around a bit, looked at the empty pier with the accosted boats in the distance and the cranes, surrounded by hundreds of containers. Nothing looked out of place, nothing looked particularly dangerous, but he wasn’t convinced just yet.  
  
All of the sudden, a heavy realization made itself known. The dark haired man hadn’t even noticed how dark it was above and around him. He looked at his watch. 12h40. It was still sunny not a minute ago. There wasn’t even a spec of cloud when he was eating his meal earlier.

The uneasy feeling intensified.

The now particuliarly black clouds overhead were swirling fast in a circle above him, as if forming a tornado in the middle of New-York was a normal occurrence.  
Alarmed now, he looked around to see if anyone else was seeing what he was witnessing, but the place was deserted, barren of life.

Of course.  
  
From a moment to the next, the unthinkable happened. A great lightning bolt, blinding and huge, descended from the dark clouds and touched the ground a few meters from him. Jumping back on reflex, a hand to his heart, he looked at the now blackened ground, burned no doubt by the force of a million kilowatts. Impressive didn’t even begin to cover it.

The smoking spot began to clear when he noticed something in the middle of the disaster(miracle?). He squinted.  
  
There was someone in the middle, lying still on the charred ground, front facing down.  
  
Impossible.  
  
As if approaching an hallucination, because it was simply improbable for it to be anything else than one huge hallucination (He must have been closer than he thought at the time of the impact) he saw that it was indeed a person, male, from the looks of it. He absently noticed that the sky had turned back to its original sunny state, again not a cloud to be observed. It was as if nothing absolutely earth chattering even happened in the first place. As if a freaking lightning bolt hadn’t just made a person appear out of thin air. As if Sasuke had been its only witness (He didn’t want to be a witness to this, whatever it was).  
  
Slowly walking towards the still figure then starting a light jog to get there faster, Sasuke slide to his knees besides the unconscious person. Taking off his helmet and Putting it on the ground (How could he even forget he had a helmet on?) bitting the tip of his gloves to get them off, he put two fingers on the strangers throat.

  
Alive.

  
Turning the guy around,(God, he was a heavy motherfucker)he put his head close to the slightly open mouth and waited a beat.

  
Breathing.

  
“Hey! Wake up!”He shook the guy a bit. No response. It was Worth a try.  
  
Invested now (It was his day off godamnit) Sasuke took the time to look over his surprise guest. Blond, dressed obnoxiously in orange (Who the hell wore orange in this day of age? Expect the hobo always in front of his apartment building, no one sane, that was for sure). He wore a headband with a weird symbol on it.  
Seeing a sort of pouch/bag at his hips, Sasuke decided to look through it to see if he could get an identity on his unconscious guy. Rifling through it, he pricked his finger on something sharp. Taking the attacked finger to his mouth to suck on the blood, he took out the sharp object with his other hand.  
  
  
What.The.Hell.  
  
  
It was some sort of sharp knife, like the ones you see ninjas have in movies. Was this guy a weirdo Japanese fan or something ? This was a bad idea. Sasuke could just leave and let the guy be someone else’s problem. Moving to get up, maybe call someone who worked here, Sasuke looked around again. He saw a small plastic card fall from the open pouch on the body’s hip.  
He bent to pick it up and read the info;  
  
Well. tried to read the info really. It wasn’t any language he knew or understood. And he knew a lot. It looked asian but not Japanese or Chinese.  
  
Sasuke wanted to believe it was all a dream. But he knew what he saw. He knew deep down he had to do something. This situation was far from normal, and it was his job to deal with it wether he like it or not.  
  
Having decided on his next course of action but hating it all the same, he took out his phone and dialed the number he knew by heart. After two rings (It was always 2 rings) an amused if not exasperated voice answered him;

“No, little brother, you can’t come to the offi-“  
“Itachi, I need a ride”Sasuke cut in.

  
The voice stopped, knowing when to be serious and that Sasuke wouldn’t ask for a ride in the middle of the day, during Itachi’s working hours, if it wasn’t important.  
“Something I should know?” Was the loaded question. _Are you alright ? Is the situation dangerous? How soon do you need the ride? What’s going on?_ Was left unsaid.

“I’m good. Just bring your ass with the car as fast as you can.” Sasuke replied.   
Shooting off the approximate location, he was getting ready to hang up when he had a sudden feeling.

  
“Oh and, don’t tell anyone about it for the moment.”

  
He heard a long pause, knowing that it was an unusual request yet having picked his older brothers interest. The phone clicked as he hung up and put it back in his pocket. He sat down again besides the apparently sleeping guy, and waited.  
  
So much for an uneventful day off.  
  
  
———————————-  
  
  
  
In a appartment not too far from the pier, near the bedroom window, a figure was perched on an unmade bed. Sharp eyes fixed in the direction of the water, where he just witnessed the weather change in a few minutes time. The figure waited in the dark of the room, as if unsure, his muscled back unmoving. After waiting about 20 minutes, he witnessed the same phenomenon happen again. The second bolt lighting the inside of the small bedroom during a nanosecond, like the first one, before disappearing altogether and leaving behind nothing but a blue sky in its place.  
  
Narrowed eyes watched the scene, now only a memory, deep in though.  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter Naruto wakes up and freaks. :D


	3. Meeting the brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto finally meets the Uchihas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied, Kaskashi is still not in this chapter . Maybe next one? I kinda got away with my writing.  
> Again, chapter in-beta’d. Sorry about that :)

Chapter 3 Meeting the brothers

It was pitch black, an endless room? Place? Of nothing. The emptiness in him weighting him down like a black hole in his chest. Naruto tried opening his eyes. Squinting at first, as if afraid of being blinded. He saw nothing new but that same oppressive darkness over his head. He was on his back it seemed, on a hard unforgiving floor. Everything hurt, he felt like he was bleeding, but he sensed no open wounds. Everything felt sluggish, and even the thought of sitting up was too much for him at this point. Blinking hard, trying to bring moister in his eyelids, he tried to focus.

In his haze, Naruto turned his head on his left side, then on his other side. Nothing but blackness. If he wasn’t on a floor, he wouldn’t even know the difference between up and down. Or even right and left, to be honest.

Realizing he didn’t have much of a choice, Naruto used his right hand and put it on the floor, using it to boost himself up in a sitting position. As soon as he was upright, his upper body sagged again towards his bent legs. His head had started to spin and hurt. Nausea took over his senses, and he felt as if one wrong move would bring him over the edge. Something was definitely wrong with him. He raised his other arm to massage his aching head. What the hell happened?

He remembered this morning, waking up and meeting the hokage. His birthday.

The mission. Sai and him flying over to intercept the guy. Ichi- ... Ichirida-... The crazy bull mutant guy. Fighting, there was fighting. They were desperately unprepared.

And then he was grabbed at the chest, followed by pain. They was no doubt in Naruto’s mind that he was supposed to die. But then something changed in the Jutsu. Kyuubi was talking.

Kyuu-

Kurama!

Now Panicked, Naruto clumsily tried to get on his two feet, calling his friends name, followed by his partners. The first time ended with him on his butt again and no answers, way too weak to do anything else but move like a fawn, and the darkness helping nothing.

Frustration overtook his features, eyes narrowing at his helplessness, he called again to his friend, followed by Sai. Not a sound answered back.

Never one to give up so easily, Naruto tried again to get up, first getting on his knees, then breathing deeply and clenching his teeth.

More or less in an upright position, legs trembling slightly but getting stronger, the blond took stock of his surroundings again. His hands felt clammy, the air stuffy and suffocating.

He recognized the sensation, this familiar feeling in his gut. He was inside the seal, inside his head where Kurama and him often talked.

The place was empty. As if nothing had ever lived here, as if no creature had ever made it its home. No golden prison, no bantering fox.

Naruto took stock of himself; His jumpsuit was torn where the guy had grabbed him. It was tattered and shredded beyond saving, as well as the black shirt he had under-

Naruto stopped short.

It simply wasn’t possible. He blinked hard.

His seal was gone.

First shaking his head in disbelief, then denial, the ninja looked around wildly, as if his seal could’ve just gone up and ran off without him. He pat his toned stomach, as if to try and make it magically reappear.

He kept calling his best friend in the recess of his mind, growing desperate. _N_ _o sense in calling Sai’s name in my mind._ He thought.

He felt nothing, not even the echo of his cries reached back to him. That oppressive emptiness he had felt earlier hadn’t come from outside, but rather from inside of him.

Feeling beret and alone, the young ninja tried to think about what happened. He began walking in a random direction, hoping to stumble upon something useful, anything to help him understand. A clue !

The wandering walk could’ve taken 10 minutes or hours for all he knew. He didn’t have any idea how long it took. It felt like ages, never ending. Each step felt heavier than the other in the knowledge that he was lost; In his own mind, but also without his friend by his side, and no idea of the happenings of the outside world.

Maybe he’d died. Maybe this was what happened after death. If it was it sucked. A lot. He didn’t really believe in a paradise or an after, but he at least thought there would be something. And ramen. Why wasn’t there ramen in the afterlife? He vaguely hoped Sai had made it out alive. Even if he was a giant creeper pervert.

But no. The numerous aches he felt in his body told another story. He was sure he wouldn’t feel like roadkill after death. He hurt too much to be dead. He was pretty sure at least. 

An idea came to mind, and Naruto felt stupid for not thinking about it earlier. Calling on his chakra, making the hand signs of the boar-horse-tiger, he tried to light a single flame ball in his right hand. A Katon Jutsu he had learned from the fox himself. He’d burned his hands often when practicing, fire not being his best element or his strong suit. He’d also almost burned down his appartment when trying to light candles for Konohamaru’s birthday last year, trying to impress the kid a bit (He’d lost his deposit on his appartment a long time ago, so now he didn’t care all that much about a few burn marks on his walls). Good times.

As suddenly as he tried, he felt himself weaken. Crying out and falling to his knees, knocking them hard on the floor, his body felt unresponsive to his mind as he tried but failed to stay standing. His arms on either side of his body succeeded in stopping him from planting face first on the ground. He felt sweat pooling at the back of his neck, and he absently noticed how out of breath he was. Fingers trembling, he brought a hand to his face to scrub at the sweat there and push his hair back.

Not enough Chakra. He felt exhausted.

He remembered that sucking sensation before loosing consciousness during the battle; It was obviously his chakra that had fallen victim to the mysterious jutsu at the hands of the horned man.

Chakra exhaustion (And it was obvious that’s what it was) was a first for him, having never really hit the bottom/limit of his or kyuubi’s endless reserve during any battle.

It was a new but unwelcome sensation. A simple jutsu now seemed like an insurmountable obstacle for Naruto, and he despaired to be able to just SEE.

Now that Jutsus were out of the question, Naruto felt helplessness like never before.

Picking himself up again from the ground with a sigh, he heard a small noise like crumpled paper on the floor besides his sandals, where is hand was planted on the ground. He looked at it with half a mind.

It was the paper seal that was on kyuubi’s cage. It looked in perfect condition. Surprised, he picked it up and turned it over, hoping for a clue. But none came forward. He though it would be burned to a crisp or something. Though there’d at least be a smudge on it or whatever. But no, it was almost spotless expect for the writing on it.

Naruto had no answers and no Kurama.

———————————

Sasuke was glad Itachi waited until they were home and settled before asking his questions (And he didn’t doubt for a second that he had plenty). He came to pick them up at the pier not even 10 minutes after the call and helped him put the guy in the car and up the apartment. No one saw them.

(They were lucky their doorman at the entrance of the apartment building was used to weirder things from them and kept quiet.)

Sasuke and Itachi had put the seemingly sleeping blond in the guest room, having no idea yet on what they should do with the stranger.

If anything, he was pretty confident the two of them together could take on the guy if he proved to be dangerous or hostile.

They carefully divested the man of his tattered clothes. _I_ _t’s not a big sacrifice._ Sasuke though, looking at the orange clothing in distaste. Taking care to remove any personal belongings (Also hoping to learn a bit more about the stranger at the same time) they dressed him in one of Sasuke loose pyjamas. They’d noticed a burn mark on his chest, and had taken care to put some cream on it and bandage it. It didn’t look life threatening or that bad, so they left it at that. Appart from that, nothing else seemed to come forward to explain the state of unconsciousness.

So all they had left to do was to wait.

“Care to finally explain what is going on little brother?” Itachi had his arms crossed, tie loosened around his neck and back leaning against the counter in their shared kitchen. They’d left the door to the guest room half open, in case their guest woke up.

Sasuke looked at his brother, and there was never any doubt in his mind that he was going to have to tell the whole truth if he wanted Itachis cooperation in this.

And so the small tale began, he tried not too leave any details out, but put emphasis on the fact that he was pretty sure the guy had dropped from the sky in that bolt of lighting. His memory was perfect, a trait they shared in the family at least.

“Are you sure of what you saw?” His older brother wouldn’t even bother asking that question, were it about anything else, but the story seemed so far fetched in the realm of impossible, that he just had to ask.

“Of course I’m sure” Sasuke answered, annoyed but not surprised at the doubt. “Plus there’s the fact that his belongings look like weapons directly from the feudal era, and his papers are in a language neither you nor I know, and there’s that weird rolled up cylinder we can’t even open. What do you make of that?” He said, turning the weird headband in his hand. The symbol on it wasn’t anything they knew. 

Pursing his lips, Itachi picked up the few papers Sasuke had found on the body.

“It looks a bit like Japanese, but some of the characters are wrong. They look Chinese in a simplified way, like two languages mixed together. I’ll have a contact of mine look into it who wont ask to many questions.” Itachi said, perplexed.

“And what about those artefacts? Weapons? Who even has shurinkens today appart from museums?” Sasuke had shamelessly googled to get the name on those knives, because he hated not knowing. It only strengthened his guess as to the origin of the sleeping guy.

Itachi exhaled loudly. Straightening, he went to take his mug from the sink and started the coffee machine. His brother was incapable of thinking without coffee most of the time.

“We can only do guesswork for now and wait for him to wake up. Hopefully he’ll understand us. Meanwhile, I’ll have to find a good excuse for ditching work on Tsunade today. She’ll be asking questions. It was pure luck that she didn’t have any urgent missions for me.” Coffee poured, his brother took a sip. “We also have to come up with something for you ditching work tomorrow” He finished, looking at his little brother across from him.

“What? Why?”

“Are you planning on leaving our guest by himself in our appartment tomorrow? What if he doesn’t wake up? I doubt our ‘problem’ will be resolved by then. I suggest we plan ahead just in case.” Itachi replied, closing his eyes, he took another sip of his coffee. “I’ll tell her you got sick. Called me because you couldn’t ride back home in your state, and I forced you to take a few days off. It’s not the best excuse by far, but its the most probable one for the time being.” He continued - “However, if this stranger turns out to be more than we can handle, little brother, you have to promise me to talk to Tsunade about it. Capiche?”

Sasuke couldn’t help the begrudging admiration he felt for his older brother at that moment. Always thinking ahead, already planning three moves before anyone else. Never ruffled over anything short of life altering events. This was why he was one of the best at his job. It was equal parts as frustrating as it was gratifying to be a part of that mans family, because Sasuke would never wish Itachi on anyone, even his enemies. Most of the time.

But he would never tell his brother that. No way on hell.

Their thinking was cut short by a crash in the guest room, and the two brothers looked at each other for half a second before they both rushed to the guest room to see what the commotion was about.

When they arrived, the blond man was in an upright position on the large bed. He was looking around, confused and a little wild looking. A hand on his chest where the bandages were under the shirt. The source of the crash became obvious when they spotted a lamp that had been on the nightstand, now broken on the floor. He must’ve knocked it out when he woke.

As soon as the brothers stepped foot in the room, the blonds head snapped up to look at them.

“Who the fuck are you guys and where am I?” The stranger said wide eyed and looking at them.

And there went the fear of language barrier. Sasuke thought with no small amusement. The guy spoke perfect English, if not with a small foreign accent he couldn’t place. Sasuke had a feeling the strangers voice was more croaky than usual, because as soon as he spoke, the stranger winced and brought a hand to massage his throat, as if in pain. He saw Itachi from the corner of his vision, now with his arms raised as if talking to a dangerous animal.

“We’re not going to hurt you. We found you unconscious and brought you here. Would you like some water?” His older brother suggested calmly. 

The blond started, as if not expecting a straight answer, he looked at Itachi directly in the eyes and gave a small nod. Itachi looked at Sasuke meanfully. He grunted in acknowledgment and quickly went to retrieve a glass of water, frustrated that his older brother wouldn’t even trust him alone with the guy. He could take care of himself for god’s sake. But now was not the time.

Coming back into the room not a minute later, he found Itachi and the guy still in the exact same position he left them. Now the recipient of the blue eyed gaze, Sasuke walked towards the blond slowly, following his brothers precautions attitude. When the blond just continued to look at him without moving, Sasuke simply deposited the glass on the night stand and took a few steps back. Back now pressed against the wall on the opposite side of the room, arms crossed.

The blond looked at them with both suspicion and distrust. He took the glass of water and sniffed it a bit a it before taking a small sip, as if expecting his drink to be anything else than tap water.

He was pretty sure his brother and he had the exact same though : The distrustful attitude and the checking of the glass told them way more than the blond thought. It meant to blond was used to situations like that. Dangerous ones. 

And it also meant Sasuke had been right to follow his gut feeling. Something wasn’t right with the situation.

The blond took his time to finish the glass of water while tying to be subtle in checking out his surroundings. Trying was the key word because Sasuke and Itachi looked at his every movement, and he knew it.

Once the glass was safely back on the stand besides the bed, the blond asked his question again; “ Where am I? You told me you found me unconscious? Was there anyone else with me?” 

“First, can you tell us your name? I think it would be the polite way to start the conversation. I am Itachi Uchiha, this is my little brother; Sasuke. “ the oldest said, gesturing at them and sitting down on the bed when it became clear that the blond would not attack them. At least not yet.

With an irritated sound, the blond answered “ Naruto Uzumaki. I was on a mission, my partner was with me. You haven’t seen anybody else?” He pressed on.

A mission? This was getting interesting.

This time, it was Sasuke that answered the stranger called Naruto.

”No, I found you alone and unconscious near the Chelsea piers around noon, no one was around. “ Sasuke said.

Naruto looked at them both with confusion, seeming not to understand. “Pier ? Chelsea? What are you talking about? I was on the border of Sunakagure, near the desert”

Something was very wrong, Sasuke thought, as he rubbed his forehead. Itachi was right, They needed more information. The more they talked, the more confused they all were getting. This was no simple matter. He had absolutely no idea what Sunagakure was. Sounded like a place, near a desert? _What the hell_.

He hadn’t even noticed he’d closed his eyes when he opened them again to look at the blond. “What agency are you with? You spoke about a mission?” Maybe that would clear things out a bit. Maybe he was from a foreign agency on a mission on American soil. 

The blond narrowed his eyes, distrustful again. Lifting his chin a bit, hands clasped tightly together on top of the covers; “I can’t tell you the details of the mission, but I was sent by Konohagakure to investigate some happenings near the Hidden Valley’s village, on the border of Suna. Me and my partner were apprehended during the mission, and next thing I know, I woke up here.”

The guy looked sane enough, but he must’ve bumped his head one to many times because what he was saying didn’t make any sense. Suna? Hidden village? Sasuke had no idea what any of those places were, and it looked like for once, his big brother was in the same boat, if his furrowed eyebrows were any indication.

Seeing their disbelieving faces, Naruto looked a little crestfallen. Then, as if a switch in his head had been turned on, he looked at the brothers again dead serious.“ What year are we?” He asked.

Sasuke didn’t fail to notice his knuckles turning white with pressure where his hands were still clasped together. The blond- Naruto was nervous. 

Now 80% sure they were in the presence of a crazy man, Sasuke looked wide eyed at his brother, as if daring him to answer the stupid question. Itachi didn’t acknowledge him and was looking back at the blond man, unperturbed, the bastard, before replying to the insane query.

“You are in New-York city, United States of America. We are in 2018.” He answered simply and efficiently. 

The blond’s eyes widened, his mouth opened and closed like a fish, as if unable to come up with anything else to say about _today’s date for fucks sake_.

He only uttered one word : “Fuck”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter, Naruto learns about this new world. And meets new people. Wink wink


	4. Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto tries to convince the brothers that he isn’t crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I though this story would be about 10 chapters long and kinda short. But the writing has gotten away from my control, and I want to really write a detailed story where the characters will be able to grow as people. Let’s see where this goes.

Naruto wasn’t panicking. He never panicked. He was a proud level-headed Ninja of Konohagakure. He was one of the most powerful ninjas in the village for gods sake, he was not going to panic simply because he was apparently thrown in a place he didn’t know and in 2018. He was in total control.

The dark haired brothers had left him alone for the moment (He apparently needed to accept that he had, in fact, time travelled if what they said was the truth), telling him that supper would be ready in half an hour and that they would talk a bit more then. Naruto was still sitting up on the now dishevelled bed, Looking at his hands and deep in thought.

They didn’t seem like untrustworthy people, they’d left him alone in what was clearly one of their guest rooms. They helped a complete stranger without knowing anything about him (And that stranger probably sounded like a lunatic, Naruto thought darkly). Naruto closed his eyes. Trying but failing to keep calm. They learned this in school; Assess the situation, form an objective, proceed with caution. Breath in, breath out.

First, he had to know where he was and who he could trust. Take stock of what he had with him, find out what happened to Kurama.

Second, find a way to go back home. Easy peasy.

Third, treat himself to some ramen and laugh this mission off with konohamaru later on.

 _Flawless plan Naruto._ He thought. _Give yourself a pat on the back_. Kurama would be laughing his furry ass off.

Just the though of his furry friend brought a pang to his heart. He was feeling a bit better, in the sense that his chakra exhaustion was going away slowly (The sleep helped, and eating something was going to do wonders for him he was sure of it), but the emptiness left behind by Kyuubi was still there, like a missing piece in his heart (And it was, a missing piece).

Putting a hand to the aforementioned organ, He silently vowed to himself that he would do whatever he could to find his missing friend.

Okay. For now, the brothers seemed to be good people. He just had to convince them he wasn’t crazy. He desperately needed people he could trust. Allies he could turn to in this new point in time. Even he knew that he couldn’t do this alone.This wasn’t his first rodeo. He was probably in a totally different world than the one he left behind.

New Jutsus, new powerful people. Were the ninja alliances the same? What about Konoha, was it still standing? He desperately hoped so. The two man didn’t even look like they recognized the name Sunakagure, so that did not bodewell for Naruto. He was outmatched with no idea where to even begin.

At that Naruto’s thoughts stopped short. Had that Ichi guy made it into this timeline too? Naruto was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to have survived the jutsu, but visibly he was and it had worked somehow. The blond would have to start looking for the guy, and fast, before he could hurt or worst- kill anymore people.

A huge two-horned guy shouldn’t be too hard to locate. Someone was bound to have seen him.

He also had to assume that Sai hadn’t been dragged into the jutsu with him. That was as much a relief as it wasn’t. Having the pervert with him would’ve made things a little bit easier, but at the same time at least someone was left to go back to the village, report their findings (Not much) and maybe find a solution on their side to bring Naruto back.

A little voice in his head wanted to remind him that no one would mourn him if he didn’t come back. That no one would really go out of their way to help him. He had Konohamaru sure, of that he had no doubt, but he was still too young and reckless. The old man Hokage would never let his own grandson take on a mission of that caliber.No matter how ‘unbiased’ he said he was.

He could not count on them to help him.

Naruto shook his head from side to side. No! They accepted him now. They had integrity, they wouldn’t leave one of their own to fend for themselves. He had to trust them. And if that failed;

He would just have to find his way back _himself._

But first, talk to his possible allies and eat. _Or maybe eat and then talk._ He thought absently, gingerly caressing his still sensitive chest. Peeking under some bandages (They had bandaged him, no enemy out to get him would do that) He could see he was burned in some places, the skin an angry red with some blisters covering the center of the chest The skin on the sides was already healing. Sensitive, but no longer burned or hurting too much. It seemed as if his fast healing ability was still present. That was a small relief.

Now determined and feeling a little better with his plan of action, Naruto got up from the bed and looked around the room for his clothes. Finding nothing of his personal belongings, and a little bit annoyed to have to stay in somebody else’s pyjamas, he walked towards the bedroom door in search for his rescuers and the promised food.

————

He walked into what looked like the kitchen in the main room just in time to see the smaller brother; Sasuke, setting the table. The taller brother, who called himself Itachi, was in the kitchen stirring what looked like soup in a pan.

He stood a little awkwardly, not yet knowing his place.

“How are you feeling? Better?” Itachi asked, not looking up from his cooking.

“Yes. Thank you for helping me hum, earlier. ” He answered back. No matter what everyone said, he did have some manners. Sometimes.

“We couldn’t just leave you there. Think no more of it” Itachi answered, turning back towards his soup.

Without wasting anytime and without even looking up, Itachi told him to sit down at the table where Sasuke had just seated himself. The leaf ninja took the seat closest to him and sat with his hands on his knees. As he got served, he said a small itadakimasu and dug in, He was ravenous! He missed the look the two brothers gave each other over the table.

A heavy silence followed while the three of them ate (Or the two brothers ate while watching Naruto wolf down three bowls of soup, it was delicious dammit).

In a few minutes, everyone was finished and Naruto started fidgeting. Silence was not his fort. At all. But he didn’t know where to start if he was being honest with himself.

The Itachi guy had both of his elbows on the table now, forearms crossed.

“I think you should start by telling us where you come from. When my little brother found you, you only had a few things on you and what we think was an identity, but we could not read it.” He calmly said, unapologetic and straight to the point. “You can trust us, we work for the government and only want to help you.” He added.

Naruto tries to relax back against his seat. He didn’t have a lot of choice but to trust these guys, they never once showed any animosity towards him and he owed them that much. Didn’t mean he had to tell his whole life story. The village he came from was no secret after all. He was about to answer when one detail of the question stopped him;

“What do you mean you couldn’t understand my card?” He asked, curious. If it was what he thought it was (And it most likely was- okay, stopping now). His Identity card that said his rank and name to get around the village was in Japanese (The picture was 2 years old now, the photographer never told him he had something stuck in his teeth at the moment of the picture, the bastard). And they were speaking to him in the same language, he didn’t see the problem.

Sasuke wordlessly brandished the card and offered it across the table to Naruto, and only then did Naruto notice his travel pouch was put on the floor against a table leg at the dark haired man’s feet. He couldn’t help but be annoyed.

“You took my things and went through them?!” He said.

Itachi didn’t look perturbed or guilty in the least “We didn’t know you or your intentions. We still don’t. We were- are being precautious.” he replied. 

Grudgingly accepting the aforementioned card and the explanation for what it was, Naruto looked at it. “ It looks normal. What are you on about?” He said turning it around to look at the back in case he missed something.

Sasuke was the one who spoke, loosing a bit of patience with the time they were wasting “ In what language is it? It’s clearly not english, nor Chinese or Japanese. Is it Korean? Vietnamian?”

Now it was Naruto’s turn to look at them both as if they were the crazy ones. This conversation was going nowhere! “What are you talking about? Of course its in Japanese. We’re speaking it right now!” He exclaimed.

It was clearly the wrong thing to say, as both brothers looked at eachother (Were they telepathic or what?) then back at him. 

Itachi shook his head gently, “We are speaking, and you are speaking, common English. And the card is not written in any Japanese dialect that I know of.” He said softly, as if speaking to a child.

Wa- what was going on here ?

“I don’t even know what English is! I’m speaking normally! How is that possible? What’s going on?” He abruptly got up, his chair pushed back and hands on the table. The movement caused the two brothers to tense, as if ready for an attack. Immediately realizing how he was acting, Naruto sat back in his chair.

”Sorry, I’m not dangerous, I promise.” An idea popped in his head “ Hey can I have my mission scroll? Surely you’ll see what I’m talking about.” The blond said.

Sasuke raised his left eyebrow, doubt on his face but marginally more calm now that Naruto was seated again. He leaned on the side of the table and went through Naruto’s pouch. He finally got the scroll out.

“You mean this? It doesn’t open, nothing’s written on it” He said, handing it over to the blond anyway.

The ninja grinned. ”You’ve never seen a seal before? I’m the only one who can open it!” He bit his thumb and pressed the bleeding finger on the scroll, happy when nothing weird happened and it did its usual thing and opened.

“What the- how?” Sasuke was now looking at the scroll with open curiosity. “Is there a scanner on the cover? Why blood?” Itachi was silent, looking more serious by the minute.

“Scanner? I don’t know about those, but this baby has a seal that recognizes only my blood and chakra. It’s made so no one can steal valuable information if it falls in the wrong hands or if I lose it.” He said, still grinning (The losing the scroll part never happened to him. No sir).

Opening the scroll fully, he turned it around for his acquaintances to see; He didn’t see any point in hiding the info on Ichinorida (He saw the name again real quick) if he wanted help finding the guy. “See? All Japanese.” 

The two brothers looked at the open scroll with rapt attention and turned to each other again (It was getting on his nerves a bit, but he had a feeling he was going to have to get used to them doing that) Itachi extended a hand, silently asking and Naruto shrugs before handing the scroll over to the older man. The long haired man looked a it a bit more before sighing and looking back up at Naruto. “I can assure you that me and my brother know Japanese, and while I do recognize some characters, this is not the traditional dialect. I can’t read this”

feeling a bit lost now and not knowing what to say, Naruto felt like he had more questions than answers the more they talked. Its not as if he didn’t believe them, not really. What would be the point of lying about a language? They looked honest enough with their reactions, and Naruto’s had yet to feel any malicious intent or chakra coming from the two man. His gut feeling was rarely wrong about people.

Sasuke cast a last suspicious look at the scroll, almost looking disappointed to no be able to read the thing, before diverting his gaze to the blond. He had a feeling.....

“ **Can you understand me**?” the younger man said. Speaking with a slightly hoarser tone of voice (Which, weird) Itachis head turned sharply towards his little brother at his words, understanding dawning on his face at the plan.

Naruto, not understanding the stupid question, because they’ve been through this already- just answered back “ **Of course I can, I just told you earlier-** “

“I was speaking Russian just now. And you answered back without even pausing, in perfect Russian.” The ebony haired man interrupted. Face frozen with his eyes narrowed, hands clasped together under his shin, deep in thought

“Wa- What’s Russian? I just heard you speak normally!” Naruto said back.

“I think you need to start from the beginning and tell us how you ended up where Sasuke found you. We might get more answers that way. And don’t leave anything out.” Itachi told him and then, as if an afterthough - “please”.

The blond opened his mouth and closed it, the two brothers undivided attention fixed on him and waiting. He had a feeling getting both of their attention and curiosity didn’t happen that often.

Was he ready to trust these people with this? Not totally, no. Not yet at least. But, he needed their help, as he was clearly out of his depth here. Taking a big gulp of air and swallowing, he started the narration of his day.

About waking up normally, getting ready and going to his favourite restaurant stand, getting lost in the description of his favourite ramen- (Sasuke was starting to look annoyed accross the table ) then getting to the point where the Hokage interrupted him-

“Wait wait back up a little, what’s a Hokage?” Sasuke said, not understanding.

Not liking the interruption, and not seeing the relevance of the question, he tried to continue talking “ You know, the leader of the village! Anyways, the old geezer sat next to me while I was eating, can you imagine the gal-“

“Leader ?” he said again. 

“Well yeah The Hokage! He does paperwork all day and takes all the big decisions. Don’t you have one in your village?”

Itachi chuckled a bit before he could help it, hiding it behind a small cough. The blond brought out something in him just by his simplicity, it was a bit refreshing. He’d never heard anyone refer to New-York as a village before.

His little brother didn’t share the same sentiment apparently.

“Well, I wouldn’t call New-York a village, it’s more of a metropole. The ‘leader’I guess would be the Mayor of New-York, Mr Shimura. He is elected by the people. New-York is not only a city, but also a state. However if you mean on a larger scale, we have a President. He is at the head of the country of the United States-“ Sasuke stopped when he noticed the blonds eyes had glazed over in disinterest. A vein appeared on his forehead, and before he could help it, he wacked the blond behind the head. “ You idiot! Are you even listening?”

Nevermind, Apparently the blue eyed stranger brought out something in his little brother too. Sasuke was never one to act out in frustration. Not often anyway.

Naruto looked outraged by the hit, hand rubbing at the sore spot on his head “ Its not my fault you started on some boring shit! “

Sasuke was about to answer, when Itachi raised a hand to silence the table.

“Children, can we get back to the story? Naruto- If I may call you that, I think we will have many questions, do try to be as clear as possible. “

The two younger ones looked chastised, Sasuke especially, was looking at his hand as if it had betrayed him.

Sulking a bit at being treated like a kid ( he was 20 years old for god’s sake) but knowing he lost that round, Naruto started his re-telling of the day again.

He got to the part about the mission briefing before he was interrupted, again (This was never going to end was it?).

“Wait wait, so you get a mission from this Hokage person. Who’s the leader of your village; Kongature? And it’s Apparently espionage/recon, but what do you do, exactly? You never said.” Sasuke couldn’t help but ask. 

“It Konohagakure, but you can just call it Konoha. What do you mean what do I do?” Naruto said, now more than a little exasperated. “What 70% of the damn village does, we’re ninjas! believe it ! Don’t tell me you guys have some other name again for this.” 

Now it was Itachi’s turn to look like he swallowed a bad lemon. The situation was just getting weirder and weirder. Ninjas? Really?

“Are you serious? Ninjas.” Naruto didn’t like the deadpan look on Sasuke’s face. At all. “70% of the people in your ‘village’ are ninjas? At least that would explain the knives in your bag.”

“My Kunais and Shurikens! You didn’t do anything with them did you? They get expensive after the 245th time I lose them in a fight!” The blond said, a little bit worried. This stuff didn’t come cheap!

Sasuke looked a him strangely (It was becoming a habit) before Itachi just sigh again and gestured Naruto with a hand to continue his story. He had a feeling they were in for a long night.

“Okay, so then I read the scroll and the guy me and my partner Sai were to look for was called Ichinorida. He got the attention of a few villages for the thieving of a few forbidden scrolls. They contain taboo Jutsus too dangerous or unstable to practice or attempt. Into the wrong hands that could be fatal. It was also creating tension with the surrounding villages since some people were being old farts and jumping to conclusions as to the origin of the guy. It’s all written in the scroll-” He gestures to the still open one on the table “That most of the stolen scrolls were about time, specificly, time travelling. No attempt at it was ever successful of course, but you never know with these crazy basta-“ This time, it was Itachi who choked on his water, interrupting Naruto’s speech.

“....”

“....”

“....”

“Okay so then-“

Napkin in hand and covering his mouth, Itachi tried to regain some sort of dignity. Feeling his little brothers amused stare on the side of his face. He knew his sibling would never let this moment go until his death. Today was most unusual for everyone it seemed.

Back to the topic. Time travelling seemed ridiculous. A farfetched fantasy. But looking back on today and the strange language, the names and ninjas, Itachi couldn’t even believe he was entertaining the idea of the blond being right. By all means they should call the police and send the blond in an asylum. He was still half listening to the blond talking about them taking flight on a bird made out of ink (It was a metaphor, or an expression, for sure. Any other explanation was just; No) to the destination, gesturing wildly with his hands, talking with gusto and animation.

But. The scroll being opened by blood like magic. The language. The bolt of lighting and the blond appearing out of thin air, the fact that he didn’t even notice when he changed languages.... there were too many unexplainable factors. Too many unknowns.

They had no choice. They had to bring this Naruto to the C.A.F.E. tomorrow and talk with Tsunade. Meanwhile they had to make sure absolutely no one else knew about this. Even the slim chance (Just impossible) of the blond being right could have devastating consequences.

Decision made, he brought back his full attention on the blond, not having lost one word that was being said. He was good at multi tasking.

Naruto got to the part where they basically found the guy, heroically fought him He saw Sasuke snort, most likely not believing a word), and how he got caught in the strange Jutsu before waking up here, in their apartment.

“...So basically, I think I time travelled here, and I need your help to find my way home.” The blond finished, strangely exhausted now that his tale was done.

Sasuke looked at his older brother, ready to ask when they would be dropping the guy off at the police station and be done with it- but he never got to say anything. Itachi looked to be deep in thought. Arms crossed and leaning back in his chair. He wasn’t seriously considering the guys story right? He had a bad feeling about this.

“You don’t believe what he just said do you? That’s crazy! Nothing he said made any sense!” he said, surprised his brother would even consider the craziness. The blond didn’t look like a dangerous individual or a liar (Or on hard drugs for that matter), but there was no way any of that story was remotely true. No way.

“Hey! You bastard!” the blond said, outraged someone would call him a liar.

“Now now. Its getting late.” Itachi finally said, feeling like the only adult in the room. “We are all tired from todays events. Naruto, thank you for telling us. We’ll try our best to help you in whatever capacity we can.” He paused meanfully to look at the two of them before continuing ” I see no other way but to bring you to our superior tomorrow morning. She would be the best person to help you in this situation. I’ll go ahead a bit earlier to... warn her of your arrival, and you and Sasuke will follow as soon as I text him the go ahead.” He hesitated a second “ You’ll have to tell her the whole story too, but lets tell no one else until we have a clearer picture of the situation.”

Naruto got up from the table and protested “ I can’t just go around telling the world about this. This is serious! I need to find the guy and find my way home!” He said, frustrated with the brothers for not believe him. It was nothing knew for him, but it still stung every time someone doubted his sincerity. Most of the time it was the villagers. It felt as if the Uchihas had never even seen a shinobi before. Which was a ridiculous though. Ninjas wouldn’t disappear, not in a million years. They played a too big part in the world.

“You can trust her, of that I can assure you. She is like our.. own Hokage if you will. However, I do hope you have proof of your sayings, because she will see right through you.” Itachi said, understanding the blonds frustration.” But for now, lets all go and get some rest. We all need it. I’m sure tomorrow will bring the answers you seek, Naruto.”

The blond huffed, tired enough to not protest. He really did need to sleep. He was still exhausted from his fight and this neverending day. His chakra was still the lowest its ever been, even if he was feeling better. Tomorrow might be easier.

Sasuke snorted again, the bastard, and gave a small nod in the direction of his brother. He turned around without looking at Naruto, taking the blond’s pouch with him to his room, before closing the door behind him. As if that would stop him if he wanted to get it back, that ass.

Bidding good night, Itachi and Naruto did the same and went to their recpective rooms.

———————-

Now alone, in the dark of his temporary bedroom, Naruto sat on the bed and looked at his hands again. Palms up and fingers open wide. His thumb had healed during the conversation, not even a scar left in the small wounds place, like it always did.

He missed Kurama, he hoped the fox was okay, wherever he was.

He was used to being and feeling alone, but never like this, never this deep. He felt cold.

His hands started trembling, and he closed them in a fist. Looking at the clock on his bedside table and noting the time and date; 11h12pm and still the same date as when he left the village. 10th of October. This morning now seemed like a lifetime away and he remembered the calendar besides his door and everything else he left in that appartment this morning, never doubting for one second that he would be returning.

“Happy birthday to me” he whispered to himself in the dark room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope we see kakashi soon, but my writing has become traitorous. ;D


	5. Of Ninjas and dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto discovers New-York, and Sasuke discovers Naruto.

Chap 5, Of Ninjas and dogs.

The night went by and most people in the city slept on as if Naruto hadn’t lived one of his most earth chattering experience just the day before. Sleep was an elusive mistress to him for most of the night, the clock on his nightstand eating away at his precious time. He tossed and turned, and finally found a semblance of sleep just when noise that suspiciously sounded like birds singing started filtering through his window. He hadn’t even noticed the window yesterday, what a ninja he was turning out to be.

Needless to say that when the single knock sounded at his bedroom door at ass-o-clock in the morning, he wasn’t in the best of moods.

All the same, he got up from the giant bed and made his way into the adjoined bathroomm, letting enough noise into his steps to let his hosts know he was awake. Taking care of his business, he was gratefulafterwards for the still packaged toothbrush and toothpaste on the counter and idly wondered if the brothers would mind it very much if he took a quick shower.

Seeing some towels on the hanger and some folded cloths aside (When the hell did they put it there? When he was still unconscious?) He decided to tempt fate and take a quick one anyway. He felt filthy from the fight yesterday and a good shower sounded way to inviting to ignore.

He undressed and peeled the bandages off from his chest at the same time, not feeling the burns anymore. He took the time to look at his unmarked chest in the mirror, a satisfied grin on his face. The grin disappeared soon enough when he remembered that the seal he had on his stomach was also missing.

Mood sour again, he went under the spray.

Taking the soap to wash his hair and body, he wasted no time in getting clean and dressed again.

Gods, why were the clothes so tight? And the material so scratchy? Did these people not know the definition of comfort and practical? How did they even move in those pants? He though darkly, trying in vain to unstick the material from the skin of his legs. At least the tight black t-shirt fit just right, but he was feeling underdressed without his faithful orange jumpsuit.

He was still walking a bit funny by the time he emerged from his room and into the living room/kitchen. He looked up just in time to see the younger brother; Sasuke, judge him from the kitchen counter, rectangular thing in one hand and a mug in the other.

“What are those pants made of? How do you even walk or run in those?” He asked, still a bit irritated at the world.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen jeans in your life either? And you don’t usually run in them you wear them for aesthetics mostly. Better than the orange monstrosity we found you in.” Sasuke replied, sipping what looked like coffee from his mug.

“Hey! The ‘orange monstrocity’ as you put it is the perfect material and comfort for missions. It breaths a lot, unlike this snake-like fabric squeezing the circulation out of my legs.” He grumbles, seating himself at the counter in front of Sasuke. The cat face on his mug really looked like him, he absently noted.

“I do appreaciate what you did for me yesterday. Whatever the outcome of talking to your boss will be” He continued, feeling a bit ungrateful, scratching the back of his head.

Sasuke was looking at him as if considering the sincerity of his statement, nodding before wordlessly gesturing to a smoking mug on the counter besides him. “How are your burns? Need help bandaging them again?” The black haired man looked anything but pleased at the prospect of helping the blond.

Naruto gingerly took the coffee mug between his two hands. He was not one for coffee, but he doubted these people had any ramen on standby waiting for him. He would take what he could. Sniffing it more out of habit than true suspicion, Naruto drank a scortching mouthful. Realizing his mistake he ahshahashahashaed for 10 seconds before finally answering the other man (He ignored Sasuke, who was coughing suspiciously into his hand as if to try and stifle an other sound, the bastard).

“It’s fine no worries! It’s all healed now” he said, still feeling betrayed by his coffee and pouting into his mug.

“All healed? You had some nasty second degree burns in there.” The ebony haired man answered, ever disbelieving.

Naruto was starting to feel a bit irritated with them not believing anything he said. So he had no shame in lifting up his t-shirt just under his armpits to show the man his proof; “See? All healed up, believe it!” He stated proudly.

He could see one of Sasuke’s eye twitch from where he was sitting then widen in incredulity, and felt entirely satisfied with the world for a moment.

He hadn’t even noticed he’d closed his eyes, because the next thing he knew, there was a cold hand on his chest right where the burn had been. Giving an undignified yelp, Naruto put his shirt back in place and glared at the younger brother.

Sasuke smirked as he retreated his hand, but his eyes were unsettled. Naruto was starting to crack that emotionless disbelieving facade, he was sure of it. After all, he could try all he wanted to deny how Naruto came unto this world (Hallucination), the weapons (Creep collectionner) or the strange language (Drugs), but he couldn’t deny the healed wound he himself had dressed the day before.

Recognizing an internal crisis when he saw one, Naruto decided to jump to a safer subject. “Where’s your brother?” He said, looking around the otherwise empty apartment.

Apparently deciding not to dwell too much on it (Naruto was starting to believe it would be a default reflex from now on, him doing something and them acting like it was normal but freaking out internally) Sasuke jumped into the new conversation with Naruto.

“He’s already on his way to our main office to warn Tsunade. We’re to wait for his cue and follow after him” he sipped his coffee again “I figure we can take my car to go.”

“Your car?” Naruto replied, now intrigued. “Is that a type of jutsu or transportation?”

The mug was halfway to his lips when Sasuke registered the question, followed by a “You’re kidding right?”

——————-

After absolutely refusing the embark into the car “It looks like a metal death trap Sasuke, I don’t even trust you with my coffee Sasuke, how do you want me to trust you with this shit Sasuke, How does it even work- “ They decided that walking would do just fine and started as soon a breakfast was over to gain some time. The walk would take them about half an hour, plenty of time for Itachi to text him so Sasuke wasn’t too worried at least. But the car would’ve been easier.

It wasn’t even 10 in the morning and Sasuke already had a headache the size of Brooklyn bridge, along with a troublesome problem the size of Central Park. Named Naruto, if the source of the problem wasn’t clear enough. He tightened his scarf around his neck against the October winds.

He wanted to believe that the blond was a escaped mental patient, because only one can _not_ know or remember what a car was, but Sasuke was starting to be convinced that the impossible might be possible after all. He would be an idiot if he didn’t consider all the evidence presented to him. And he was no idiot.

He wasn’t part of the C.A.F.E. for nothing, and he was good at his job. However, he had to give himself some credit for having a hard time grasping the enormity of it all if the blond’s whole story did turn out to be true. Time travelling had never been on his list of worrying events to ever happen to him in his life or the one after. It was not even on his list of improbable things (He had scientific experiments gone rogue, flying pigs, and somewhere at the bottom was Itachi wearing a tutu and proclaiming his love for ballet to Sasuke. Now THAT would make him run for the hills).

A bit lost in though he had totally forgotten to look after their strange guest while walking the New-York streets. Sasuke berated himself internally on being so careless around the blond. Normally he would be guarded every second of the way, but he had a feeling that the blond wasn’t someone especially bad or malicious. He noticed the blond was not walking besides him and grew irritated, turning around to reprimand the man.

Now that his attention was on the ‘ninja’ he could see the blue eyed blond was about 20 meters behind him, eyes wide and full of wonder.

He stopped for a second to observe. The mean words dying on his lips.

Naruto was open mouthed, looking all around him at the skyscrapers, as if trying to see the top of the buildings, then twisting his body around to look at the cars passing them by on the busy streets. He honestly looked like an idiot in the middle of the pavement. People were looking at him strangely and contouring him as they walked by. Some were even shooting irritated looks at the man since he was stopped in the middle. His eyes were full of childish wonder, and it made something move in his chest.

If he had to put a name on the feeling, he would say it was quite refreshing to see someone look at the city for what seemed like the first time.

He was realizing that if even half the blonds story was true, he must be feeling pretty lost and lonely in a new time and place he apparently had no understanding of.

Sasuke felt himself sympathise against his will for the first time with their guest. The blond had tried to be honest with them since the beginning and all they did was treat him as a crazy guy. Sasuke was honestly surprised Itachi and him had even taken the blond in instead of dumping the man in a nearby hospital. And right now, it was obvious Naruto needed all the help he could get. Sasuke might be an asshole, but he wasn’t heartless. He couldn’t even imagine his life without his bike and technology, even less without his brother. Had he left family members behind? Friends?

Huffing a bit with incredulity, Sasuke set his mind and began walking towards the still gawking blond. Taking care to glare lazily at any passerby who dared shoot Naruto looks. He patted the blond on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Oi Dobe” he said, enjoying saying the insult in his native tongue a bit too much, “We need to keep moving if we ever want to actually _arrive_ at our destination.” He said smothly, hands in the pockets of his black pants.

As predicted, the wide-eyed look was replaced with indignity. He saw a vein pop on the blonds head before he exploded. “What the- you utter bastard!” Naruto said, brandishing his fist at him and going on a rant about duck butts for hair.

———————-

Naruto was quickly learning that Sasuke was a bastard; Firstly for lending him the tightest pants known to man, secondly for trying to get him into a hollow piece of metal on wheels and trying to convince him it was safe, and lastly not even giving him time to get used to- well, to a huge city like he’s never seen before! (Ignoring the fact that the man kind of saved him and took him in; something no one has ever done for him before).

Nevermind trying to come around the truth that he apparently time travelled (If he had any doubt, he was pretty sure now), he was now in the middle of a freaking city with buildings higher than the Hokage mountain! He couldn’t even see the top of some of them. How was he meant to keep his cool with all the new things going on around him? What Sasuke had called cars littered the streets, people getting in and out of them, motor noise and smoke coming out of the rears. It was all very surreal.

Still internally Grumbling but now following more closely behind the irritating man, Naruto continued to admire the scenery offered to him. Back at the apartment all he had in mind was to get back to his time, but now, curiosity was beginning to have a vicious grip on him. He wanted to know everything.

Shaking his head he scolded himself. _You don’t have time for sightseeing, you have to talk to Sasuke’s boss, get her to help, find kyuubi and get the hell out!_

So preoccupied with talking to himself, he almost didn’t notice up a women up ahead walking on the opposite sidewalk with multiple dogs on their leashes around her (Just how many did she have?). She clearly didn’t have any control on the pack and was struggling. His eyes continued tracking the women, his guts feeling queasy and the street noise falling quiet in his head.

A fraction of a second, a squirrel coming down from a nearby tree, intending to cross the busy street.

The dogs, all noticing at the same time the small animal. Their ears flattened.

The surprised lady being dragged and falling down in the middle on the streets with her dogs.

A car coming towards her too fast.

Not even thinking about it, seeing everything happening as if in a movie, Naruto sprinted down the street after the women, stopped in front of her and faced the incoming car.

_I can do this._ He closed his eyes, pushed a little chakra in his hand, took a stance with his legs on the asphalt and then-

Noise came back all at once, Naruto looked up from what felt like the first time in a while, but in reality was just a few seconds. He had his hands stuck in the body of the car’s front. The whole hood destroyed and smoking in front of him, the couple in the car startled and shook, looking at him with wide eyes.Behind him the women on the ground, in shock. Taking his hands off the hood of the car and placing them in front of himself in a placating manner, he opened his mouth to try and maybe explain-

A scarf fell on his head to cover his face and hair and he felt himself being dragged away by his arm from the scene abruptly. He didn’t even have time for an indignant yelp before he was pushed in an alley and he saw Sasuke’s face appear in front of him.

“What the hell was that? What the fuck was even that? What were you thinking?!” The youngest brother said. “Do you have any idea what you just did?” He’d begun to shake the blonds shoulders while talking.

“Wha- I just saved the girl! She was going to get hit by one of those cars! You wanted me to do nothing?” Naruto said, indignant. 

“I’m not talking about you saving the stupid girl you dobe, I’m talking about you doing a 100 meters run in half a second and then _stopping_ a freaking car with you bare _hands_.” He answered, rage and disbelief evident on his otherwise emotionless face.

“I just ran to save her without thinking! Any normal ninja would’ve done the same thing in my place” He answered, not understanding where the rage was coming from. He did nothing impressive appart maybe from reacting faster than the other passerby’s.

“I don’t think you understand; There. Are. No. Ninjas. Here or anywhere else in the United States, even the world. Ninja have not existed for centuries! And even then, they? they never would’ve been able to destroy a car on impact. What you did was impossible.” Sasuke said, having calmed down enough to look around and see if anyone had followed them in the alley, hands still tight on Naruto’s shoulders. “And now you just showed yourself doing the impossible in the middle of the streets when we told you yesterday to stay the fuck low.” Having said that, Sasuke took a small a step back and proceeded to check Naruto’s hands for any injuries, not having taken the time before that. He expected them to be bleeding and broken. But they were in perfect condition. 

So much for not believing the blond and his crazy story.

And Naruto- Well Naruto didn’t even notice his hands being moved around, he was speechless for the first time in his life. A future with no ninjas? No shinobi of the hidden leaf village? Anywhere? The idea was just too crazy to believe, but at the same time, some missing pieces made sense now. The astonishment at his story, the complete surprise with his weapons and scroll. Them having no idea what he was talking about. The lack of understanding while talking about jutsus and seals. Everything he knew in life simply did not exist here.

He was so screwed.

—————

Sasuke was probably in a coma in a hospital somewhere and was having the most fucked up dream about a blond ninja with superpowers - _what the_ _fuck_ \- because of the good drugs. Itachi was probably at his bedside reading a book on how to induce nightmares to coma patients.

It was that or face the reality of everything Naruto said to them just yesterday. Because there was no way what he witnessed earlier was anything but the impossible made possible. He hadn’t even seen the blond move until it was already over and done with. That and the healed burn from this morning was all the proof his brain needed to believe what he though was a bullshit story from A to Z.

Somehow the coma was starting to look appealing.

He sensed his mobile vibrating in his back pocket and took out his phone. It was the message from Itachi.

Still in disbelief Sasuke made a grab for one of the blonds arms and led them deeper into the alley.Naruto was letting himself be dragged, still in shock after Sasuke’s little outburst. _Good_.

He wanted to make sure no one would see them again and risk being recognized. Bad enough a little more than a dozen people had witnessed the incident. It would be just their luck if one of them had a phone out and was filming. Taking back his scarf, he led them out of the alley and into an other street, taking a longer route to go to the C.A.F.E.

After what he just witnessed, he was even more convinced they had to tell everything to Tsunade.

And hopefully, find a solution.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear on me mum. Next Chapter we see kakashi. :D


	6. Kakashi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally meet kakashi, and our Naruto arrives at CAFE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta-ed as always :) Enjoy!

Chap 6. KAKASHI

The rest of the walk towards their destination was done in silence. Naruto was still digesting the devastating news that he was now in a world where ninjas, jutsus and probably even chakra, were all unknown. Nevermind the question of how these people got anything done without shinobis in their life; Naruto now had no idea where to even start his research to got back home. He was stuck in a time and in a world where jutsus were not even a concept. How was that even possible?

Sasuke had let his arm go a few streets down after dragging him out of that alley. He was occasionally looking at him from the corner of his eyes with something like pity in his dark gaze, before going back to his square machine (He called it a phone earlier. They became way smaller and flatter in this future than back home that was for sure).

Naruto hated pity.

He’d lived with it most of his life. When it wasn’t hate, it was pity or sometimes sadness. He didn’t need it, never did, never will. He never pitied the life he’d made for himself in the least. He was proud of his achievements and of where he was today. 

He was going to do like he alway did: Save himself and find a way to go back, whatever it took. He just needed a little nudge in the right direction, a sign, anything, to get him going (Never mind the fact that he was never really alone before that; Kurama had always been a pillar of strength for him along with being his best friend. Now he was truly alone in his own mind and body.). He hoped the kyuubi was alright wherever or whenever he ended up. Probably terrorizing a village in the distant future or something.

He refused to entertain the idea that his friend was gone-

Dead.

That was not even an option. Not one he was willing to accept anyway. The fox was a being made out of chakra for gods sake, practically nothing could kill him! No, he had to be trapped somewhere or held back in the past. And if he was here, in the same timeline as him, he would stop at nothing to find his friend and get him back.

That was a promise. 

The creature was bound to make a ruckus if he was here. It was just a matter of when, and Naruto would be right there.

He was brought out of his musings by Sasuke announcing they could see the office a few hundred meters ahead. Excited more than he could say at the prospect of finally getting some help and maybe some answers, he looked up ahead to try and see this C.A.F.E. place the brothers kept mentioning- 

Whatever Naruto though it would look like; was definitely not it.

It was a small unassuming place right smack in the corner of a street, offering a great open spaced view of what looked like a small park in front. The bold lettering written CAFE in front on top of the building erased any doubt about this being the wrong place. What was weird about it was the little cup hanging on from the letter “E” by the handle and the colourful appearance of what was clearly a _coffee shop_.Naruto didn’t know what else he expected from the name CAFE, maybe some big city building lined with offices and black suits. When the brothers talked about their boss he imagined a big shot and an all knowing person.

Not, well, a literal coffee shop.

What was he meant to do with this? Open a portal through time and space with caffeine and good will?

Sasuke and him arrived at the outskirt of the small place, the dark haired man walking fast while Naruto lagged behind, utterly discouraged.

Small round tables were set outside with people sitting and drinking their morning coffee. Younger individuals divided in small groups of 4 or 6 were gathered around the tables with their coats on and eating pastries while talking and laughing together. Some older geezers were reading their journal with their cup in front of them, the autumn wind barely bothering anyone.

“You work at a coffee shop? Seriously?” Naruto said incredulously while they continued their approach. “How do you expect this place to help me? “ He continued, waving his hands towards the sign, exasperated and a little (try a lot) disappointed.

The way the brothers had talked about their job made it sound like some important business. But come to think about it, Naruto didn’t know anything about them. He didn’t even know what they _did_.Serious oversight on his part.

All Sasuke did was to smirk at him and continue walking, looking a little happy (As happy as he could look with that stuck up face of his) to be on top of things for once.

“Tch. Don’t be daft. Just follow me and see for yourself.” Sasuke said.

Grumbling about mysterious bastards and stupid coffee shops, he followed the ebony haired man around the tables and to the door with an open sign on it. Sasuke pulled open the door and signalled for him to go first with that stupid smirk of his again.

He was starting to think he should get his ninja licence revoked because he never noticed someone stepping through the door at the same time as him from inside- and collided head first into a hard chest (More like brick wall).

Before he could fall and embarrass himself further (Maybe it was a good thing that Kurama was missing after all, he would never have heard the end of it otherwise) a hand shot out and took his arm in a strong grip to stop his ~~flailing~~ fall.

“-oh my!” He heard from the other man.

Straightening himself and taking his arm back a little forcefully (What was it with these people and gripping his arms?) Naruto looked at the man he’d just bumped into .

The stranger was a good head taller than Naruto and Sasuke (They were both about the same height) with a mop of grey hair on top of his head. The man didn’t look old enough to have grey hairs yet, but the look uniquely suited him. He was wearing a mask that made him think of the ones a few shinobis wore back home. It was covering his nose and mouth (It wasn’t that cold outside, not enough to wear a mask at least.) and with a matching eyepatch covering his left eye. He had a small black coat open to reveal a simple white dress shirt underneath it. He looked well muscled if not a little lean for his height. The hand that had grabbed him had been sure and strong.

Speaking of hands, was that a book in his other hand? Had he been walking and reading at the same time?

“I apologize - ?” The man said, looking expectedly at Naruto.

He opened his mouth; to answer or to insult of that he wasn’t sure yet-

“Kakashi,” Sasuke interrupted, not looking too pleased to see the man “Back from you mission already?”

The one eyed man finally turned his head towards Sasuke, slowly and unsurprised by the rude interruption. They were clearly used to each other. A colleague perhaps? Or a friend?

Scratch that. They didn’t even look like they liked each other.

“Ah, Sasuke. How was your day off? Your brother seemed awfully agitated yesterday afternoon just before he left” The visible eye was now curved, clearly amused at Sasuke’s expense. “ It was just after a phone call from you If I remember correctly.”

 _It must have been when Sasuke found me_. Naruto thought to himself. Having heard what happened through the brothers yesterday.

“None of your business. I’m here to talk to Tsunade. Let us through” He replied, irritated at Kakashi for being his noisy self.

“Maa maa where’s the fun in that? Who’s your friend?” He asked, nonchalant, one lazy but intelligent eye observing the blond. Naruto had a feeling the guy wanted to be underestimated, was used to it even. Slouching against the doorway, appearing bored. But judging by the reflexes he just witnessed, underestimating the man would be a huge mistake.He knew those types back home (He wasn’t that obvious kid anymore who believed anything and always attacked before thinking).

They were still blocking the doorway and he could see people getting angsty at the back. Obviously Sasuke and Naruto couldn’t say anything to the man, not until they knew what happened and who they could trust. But he could see that Sasuke was locked in what looked like a staring contest with the older man. They were wasting time!

“I’m Sasuke’s childhood friend! I came to visit him for a while” Naruto said loudly, wincing a bit internally at the volume, but putting on his best smile towards the man. At this point, he was praying this Kakashi guy didn’t know a younger Sasuke. He’s known the two brothers for a day and a half at most, so it didn’t bode well for his lie. He put an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders, as if to prove his point.

Kakashi looked a little dazed by the huge smile directed at him, before quickly recovering and casting a incredulous look towards Sasuke, then Naruto, then Sasuke again, not quite willing to believe the blond.

Sasuke looked constipated for a moment before nodding. “Same village in Japan, same training school, now get out of the way, we’re late.” He shouldered passed the disbelieving man, finally freeing the entryway.A relieved Naruto trailed after him, waving at the grey haired man as he went. What? He looked interesting.

He felt eyes (More like a single eye) follow him inside until the door closed behind them, hiding them from the view.

Naruto took the information Sasuke told Kakashi, understanding what he hadn’t said; If asked, he came from Japan, and went to school with Sasuke. Obviously if he was to stay here for a while they would have to polish the story a little, but it would do in a pinch.

“Childhood friends? Really? ” Sasuke said, a little amused.

“Hey, I didn’t see you come up with any ideas! It was the first that came to mind okay?” Naruto answered, crossing his arms.

“Tch. We’re lucky he doesn’t know every detail of my past, but our story is hardly believable. I don’t have friends.”

“Well,would it be so unbelievable for you to be friends with me?” Naruto said, head bowed, trying not to feel hurt. He should be used to this situation. But people hating him on principle was always going to hurt. No matter what he did or said. He knew he wasn’t the ideal friend material; With the demon fox and whatnot and his brash attitude. He just didn’t think he was that bad.

Sasuke looked at him a moment, gaze far too discerning. He let out a sight. ”No, it wouldn’t.” He admitted.

Naruto snapped his heads back up at the admission. Sasuke was looking at a far wall and ignoring him, but there was no mistaking what he heard. A huge smile appeared on his face, happier than he’d like to admit. The happiest in the last two days at this very moment.

Satisfied now but not wanting to stop the conversation, Naruto decided to jump to what he hoped was a safer subject. He was curious okay?

“Who was that Kakashi guy anyway? You obviously know him. ” Naruto asked Sasuke.

“He works with Itachi and me.” Sasuke answered. He abruptly stopped walking and faced Naruto. “Be careful around him, he’s perceptive and not easily lied to.”

With that he turned again and continued walking towards the back of the store.

“He’s dangerous?” Naruto asked, going after him. The man didn’t look like a bad guy, but then again, most of the time they didn’t. Most.

(Ichinorida had looked like a crazy motherfucker at his first encounter, so no surprise there.)

“He’s noisy and not easily fooled. It’ll be difficult to keep him in the dark about this” Sasuke answered, gesturing to all of Naruto. Rude (Although the insult was easier to take, now that he knew Sasuke didn't mind being his friend).

They stopped in front of what looked like a supply closet. It looked like an ordinary wooden door behind the counter (He hadn’t even realized they’d passed the counter, he really had to get it together if he wanted to survive here).He got a card out of his front pocket and swiped it in a reader on the wall besides the door. Hand on the knob Sasuke stopped again and looked at Naruto one last time. “But he’s not a bad man.”

With that, he opened the door and they stepped inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next we meet Tsunade ! Can’t wait to really start the plot of the story :) I’m just getting warmed up.  
> Please tell me if you see any mistakes, as English is not my first language.


	7. Tsunade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto meets Tsunade, and maybe hope?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.  
> like always this story is un-betaed, don’t hesitate to point out any errors.  
> This chapter came out later then I expected due to a death in the family. So next one might be a little late too. I hope you enjoy. I just can’t wait to get to the interesting parts.

Chap. 7 TSUNADE

Behind the closed door lay a stairway going down.It was dimly lit and the air dry. At the end lay a corridor with a few closed doors on each side and everything painted in a pale grey colour. Once down Sasuke headed directly to the last door at the end of the hallway with Naruto following close behind. Each of his steps were measured and sure, while Naruto felt like he was fumbling with uncertainty. He’s never been afraid to meet important people before, but what if they couldn’t help him? Or worse, what if they didn’t want to help him? He didn’t have a choice, nowhere else to go and no idea how this new world worked.

He would force them to help him, even fight for it if given no choice. Make them see reason. He just hated not knowing.

Finally arriving at the door, Sasuke didn’t even turn towards Naruto as he got his electronic card out again, swiped it, and knocked slightly on the door before letting themselves in.

Inside was a quaint little office; two old fashioned sofas facing each other with a glass coffee table in between. At the back of the room stood one big oval wooden desk, the office strangely reminding him of the Hokage’s with its warm atmosphere and the mountain of paperwork littered all over the desk with huge bookcases behind it. Sasuke’s older brother, Itachi, was comfortably seated in one of the sofas, legs crossed. Most likely he’d been waiting for the two of them to arrive. Naruto looked around the room curiously until he heard a feminine voice speak. “Uchiha, I’ve been waiting for you and your ‘friend’. Sit down.” it said.

Looking around the office again, searching for the origin of the voice, his gaze settled on a high pile of documents and papers on the desk. Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder and directed him to one of the sofas. He sat down in silence besides Itachi, Sasuke chose to sit in front of them and coughed into his hand, trying to get the persons attention again.Naruto looked towards the pile on the desk before a hand shot out and tossed everything haphazardly on the side; revealing a middle aged looking blond and oh my god were those her-

Another cough, this time from Itachi at his side, (no doubt he noticed the widening of Naruto’s eyes) told Naruto to stop fixing his gaze on the huge jugs, and start looking into rather angry brown eyes. It wasn’t his fault really, who even had boobs that size? They could kill a human.

Laughing nervously now, Naruto tried to alleviate the suddenly heavy atmosphere “ Uh, Hi! The name’s Naruto. I was sent in the future by a jutsu and I need to go back to my time and village ?” He said, speechlessly. Cutting the chase, getting right to the point, making a straight shot, call a spade a spade, whatever. He heard more than saw Sasuke hit a hand to his face, shaking it in apparent despair. Itachi besides him just closed his eyes, lifting his head towards the ceiling in what looked like silent prayer.

Well, he wasn’t known for his patience, and even less for his subtlety . Besides, the brothers had told him to tell her everything, so he didn’t see a point in swimming around the subject longer than he had too.

Things to do, evil to banish and pound to the ground, a life to get back too, the likes.

The only reaction he got to his verbal vomit was a twitch in one of her eyes. Taking a paper in front of her, she appeared to read the first lines before signing it before reaching for a new one from her never ending pile. Naruto was starting to wonder if the hag had even heard him before she opened her mouth.

“Itachi here, came in this morning after abruptly leaving in the middle of his work yesterday following a call from his brother.( At that she looked pointedly at Sasuke, who’s eyes were busy looking at an ugly painting just behind Naruto) He explained in great detail what happened, what he learned and what you told him.” She paused, putting the pen down and scratching at something behind her nails. “Itachi is one of our best agents, and far from gullible or stupid. The same could be said for Sasuke, save a few key situations ( At that Sasuke opened his mouth as if to protest, but one look from Tsunade shut him up) where his temper got the best of him. “ Looking directly at Naruto now with her piercing gaze, she continued “ What I’m wondering now, is how a brat like you managed to trick not one but two of my best agents into believing you.” She finished.

At that Sasuke got up, “There are some new developments to the situation that I believe you should kno-“

“I didn’t ask you Uchiha, I asked the brat here. Let him speak”She interrupted him still looking at him- through him with her gaze.

Naruto was frozen in his seat. He was vaguely aware of Itachi curiously looking at his little brother at the mention of new developments and of Sasuke sitting down, frustrated. All of that seemed insignificant in the face of once again not being taken seriously. He was getting tired of it already, and she was the third person (fourth, if he counted the strange individual at the door earlier) he was introduced to in this timeline. The odds were against him (Weren’t they always?).

He didn’t turn away from her look and faced this Tsunade head on, strong in knowing that he was right and that he did what he could.Something was off, of that he was certain. If Itachi had told her everything, and if she considered him, them, some of her best agents, then she knew perfectly well that there was at least some truth in the situation, if not all. He also liked to think that someone of her position (whatever it was, it looked at least secret if her office was hidden in the basement of a coffee shop for gods sake) had a least a certain intelligence to her.

She was testing him he realized, furrowing his eyebrows. Challenging him to prove to her without a doubt that he was who he told them. Naruto Uzumaki, proud shinobi of Konohagakure, lost in time.

He had no doubt that if he was to just say what he knew of the situation( and by the same token, what he’d said to the brothers yesterday), she would just shut him up and send him on his merry way without so much as a goodbye. Words were just that; words. Words could be twisted, words could be changed, deformed and adjusted to his every whim. No matter what he told her, she would always have a silver of doubt in her head.

Well, as the saying went; ‘Actions speak louder than words’ or something.And that fit him just fine, he always hated the sensation of walking on eggshells with every word he spoke. He just had to do something none of them could do. Something not aggressive, and not dangerous in closed quarters. But what?

Absently, he got up and looked around him. Feeling every pair of eyes in the room following him, he thought. A wind jutsu would be his speciality, but the paperwork would go everywhere and that wouldn’t score him any points. Fire was too dangerous and he wasn’t the best to control them in small spaces. He continued walking, circling the couch. His trademark Sexy no jutsu would maybe work on the brothers( he somehow doubted even that), but would leave a bad taste with the lady boss. Shadow clone? Forbidden, not easily learned but not dangerous, that could do it.

He was about the bring his hands together to make the appropriate signs when he heard a pen hit the floor followed by a surprised gasp. Annoyed that he was getting interrupted before even trying- he looked at the other occupants of the room. Everyone was looking at him with their mouth hanging open, eyes big (It was quite a funny look on them , he wished he could take a picture, keep it in his pockets for darker nights when he needed a laugh).

“What?” He said, wondering if he had something on his face. He looked behind him; nop, nothing special, just a ceiling light.

Oh.

Ceiling light.

So preoccupied by what he could do to prove himself, he’d failed to notice that he’d walked on the wall and was upside down standing on the ceiling of the small office. Oops.

It happened to him more often than not these days, he was a bit embarrassed to admit. He couldn’t help the need to move constantly, even while deep in thought. Staying in one place was just not his style and even his subconscious knew that. Didn’t mean they had to stare at him as if he was a loony thought. Rude.

Wait.

Riiight. No ninjas, no chakra, probably meant no walking on things outside of gravity.

He almost hit himself. He kept forgetting these people apparently didn’t even have ninjas. Probably didn’t even know what jutsus were. He’d himself learned the truth not even half an hour ago. It was just like him to forget the world chattering info. Walking on trees or on walls had become like second nature to him ( to any seasoned shinobi really, the villagers were way to used to finding footprints on their walls and roofs). It would be hard to reign that in if he had to hide what he was.

Now nervous that he’d somehow fucked everything up before it even began, he freed his feet from the ceiling and landed directly in front of the desk where Tsunade was scrubbing her eyes with her hands. From tiredness or disbelief, he wasn’t sure.

“Um. So, was that proof enough for you?” He said, scratching the back of his head. Now feeling a bit awkward.

“Yes, yes that was quite enough.” She replied, still with a hand on her forehead, as if to fend of a bad headache. He had a feeling he was the source of the headache at the moment.How boring this timeline had to be if one couldn’t even walk on walls, honestly.

“How did you do that?” he heard from behind him. He turned , expecting Sasuke to have been the one to ask the question but finding instead Itachi, intrigued. “You didn’t mention you could do this yesterday.” he said.

“His burns from yesterday are gone too” Sasuke said a bit smugly from his position on the sofa, visibly happy to one up his older brother whenever he can.

“Gone?” Itachi replied, one eyebrow raised in question.

“Gone, healed. Checked myself” Sasuke said. “He’s strong too, stronger than a normal human. Stopped a car with his bare hands when coming here and not a scratch on him.” he continued. “He-“

“He is right here damnit! And he- I don’t appreciate you guys discussing me while I’m standing right here!” Naruto cut in. “And I’m perfectly human thanks” he mumbled, arms crossed. “You’re the weird ones”.

Hearing a snort in answer, he shot a glare at the two brothers followed by a finger for good measure.

“What’s this about a car Sasuke? Why didn’t you report it as soon as you came in?” Tsunade snapped. He gaze now finally on someone else than Naruto.

Sasuke shot a look at Tsunade, insulted. She didn’t even acknowledge it. “Well? We don’t have all day!” The blond boss said.

Grunting, Sasuke proceeded to tell her about the happenings of this morning in great detail, clearly used to reporting to her.

“If someone filmed this we are going to have a problem. I’ll get Shizune on the street cameras to see if they recorded any of it and to see if we have some unwanted witnesses. We’ll also make the car disappear; replace it, repair it, I don’t care. I want no trace of this ever happening appart from the few people no one will ever believe.” She ordered.

She was clearly used to this, giving orders, making proof disappear.Staying level headed in a situation no one really understood yet. It was comforting in a way. She made him think of the old man Sarutobi a lot. Expect with huge boobs and a bit more aggressive than the old Hokage. He understood why she was sitting on that desk. Even if he still didn’t know what they did.

“So you believe me? You’ll help me get home?” Naruto had to know. He had to know he could count on these people to help him. Or at least point him in the right direction. He was a tired.

Far from home, no lead, and more desperate than he cared to admit. Having these people at least no try and kill him would make his life so much easier. If they helped him that would be even better than he’d hoped.

“I can’t make any promises brat. What we do know is that this- ” She point to the entirety of him( this was getting old, fast) “has to stay between wraps. No one except the people in this room are to know what you can do, much less discover where, or when in this case, you are from. Until this is resolved you’ll be working here under a cover story. The Uchihas were right to bring you to me. This is the first place in the know when something fucked up happens.” She looks him in the eyes “ Are we clear?”

“You want me to work here until we get a lead?” Naruto answered, a bit sceptical.

“This is a shit situation wrapped in problem paper and with fuck-if-I-know ribbons on top kid.This is the last thing I want to do, but CAFE would be your best bet to find any lead on this Ichinorida Itachi mentioned, and if he is here or fuck knows elsewhere, you’re our best bet in dealing with him.” She said, “Until then, no super strength or walking on walls or whatever that little trick of yours was.”

“I don’t even know what you guys do! I don’t even know if I can do anything else than fight honestly. I can’t sell coffee all day, I’d go stir crazy.”

“Allow me to interrupt, but he could translate documents and research papers for the agency lady Tsunade” Itachi pointed out from behind them. He’d almost forgotten about him. Tsunade looked intrigued and mentioned for him to extrapolate on the idea.

“It seems as if he can understand and speak any language. It would be a waste not to use that talent. It would also provide a good cover for him, as the last translator we had was fired a few months back” Itachi said.

“Mizuki was a useless piece of shit, good riddance” Tsunade absently said. “ Any language you say? How?” She asks.

“Unexplainable at the moment” he replied, apologetic.

“Of course” She answered, rolling her eyes at them. “What’s the cover story?”

“We briefly encountered Kakashi at the entrance and Naruto helpfully told him we were childhood friends. I told him he was from Japan and we went to the same training school. That could be it. We could say I gave the details of the job to him and he accepted to come here for an amount of time to try for the seat.” Sasuke said. “The training school would be plausible, as we at least know he can fight some from what he told us. He’s used to answering to a boss “Hokage!” Hokage, whatever,and he doesn’t exist in this timeframe. Makes it easy to forge his past and papers from scratch while we wait for a lead to pop up.”

Tsunade was now looking at Sasuke weirdly “ You? Friends?” She said, which, rude.

“Yeah, you have a problem with that old hag?” Naruto intervened. Feeling protective of his only friend right this moment. He was a right bastard but he was the first to accept Naruto here to a certain level and say they were friends. He would protect that to his dying breath.

Tsunade, Itachi and Sasuke were now looking at him weirdly. Sasuke and Itachi’s look was a bit more friendly, while Tsunade looked down right weirded out.

Coming to her senses, she shakes her head no. “ Then its settled for now. Itachi will brief you on the details. Sasuke, send Shizune in after you go. Now out with you, before you bring me more shit.”

The brothers started leading him out the door, ready to head out. Naruto wasn’t having it.

“Wait wait, you guys still didn’t tell me what the hell it is you do! I have a right to know if I have to work for you” Naruto said, frustrated.

Tsunade only smirked.

“ Welcome to the Department of Homeland Security of the United States of America - CAFE branch. Meaning any shit dealt without paper trail or un-officially, any embarrassment or event needing to be buried and forgotten will be dealt by us. We don’t exist, and we don’t answer to any normal authority.” She said. And with that, the door closed to his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made up the CAFE agency and everything that comes from it. Was a little inspired by Shield or something. What I mean is I made everything up. Anyways, Kakashi again next chapter, yay!


	8. Sakura

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto meets Sakura, and starts his new job. And Kakashi snoops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I took the time to write the summaries for all the chapters of this story. I didn’t want to end up with a plot hole or something going wrong. So now normally everything is planned. I just have to write it. It’s going to be around 26 chapters long. :)  
> As always, the story is unbetaed, so if you see any mistakes, don’t hesitate to point them out.

Chap. 8 SAKURA

Naruto was still trying to take in what he learned in the past hour and a half- scratch that- the past two days. How did he go from a mission in the middle of nowhere trying apprehend a dangerous criminel, to working in a coffee shop in a weird future where ninjas don’t exist? Everything felt as if it were happening all too fast, or in the next second, way too slow. He was caught between two realities in his head, and for the first time, he completely alone.

_Kurama where the fuck are you?_

The good news was; The old hag (Tsunade, his mind supplied.) had apparently accepted to help him. She gave him an alibi, a job, and a small silver of hope in his chaotic life. He had no idea what half of what she said before closing the door to his face meant, but he understood she was part of some secret security agency for their country (He vaguely remembers Sasuke going on about some UnitedAmericas, but its a bit unclear in his head, after all, it was boring as fuck.). So she was like the equivalent of Anbu in this world? If so, that was kinda cool.

He was brought out of his musings by a hand on his shoulder, and turned to find Itachi at his side. They were still in the corridor, but Sasuke was nowhere to be found, leaving him alone with the older brother.

“Follow me Naruto, I’ll introduce Sakura to you. She’ll be the best to show you the ropes and answer your questions before you start.” The brother said. Walking in the direction of the stairs. 

“Heh? You want me to start today already?” Naruto answered, following him.

“Why not get an early start? You’re already here, might as well make it count” Itachi said.

“Where did Sasuke go to? Wouldn’t he be the best to explain everything to me?” He asked, feeling a bit lost and unprepared. “I still have to think of where I’ll be staying from now on, and how I’ll get by here while we wait for something to pop up.” Naruto had stopped in the middle of his rant, anxiety gripping his throat in a rare show of vulnerability.

He was damn stressed, so sue him.

He noticed Itachi stop ahead and come back towards him slowly before stopping right in front of him. He looked like he was considering Naruto, thinking on how to broach the subject without scaring him away (Screw that, he wasn’t some animal in a cage, he wasn’t scared and he certainly wasn’t fragile.).

“Sasuke went to get Shizune for Tsunade, and after that he has his own work to do, having been absent for a day (Itachi having his own work to do was left unsaid, but clearly understood). Don’t worry about lodgings Naruto, my brother and I already discussed it and deemed it safer if you were to stay with us for the duration of your.....Stay.”

Naruto wondered when the hell the brothers had time to discuss his situation.

“But.. you already did so much for me! I don’t want to be aburden anymore than I already am.” Naruto answered, overwhelmed for a moment at being offered a place to stay so easily after only a few days with the brothers. No one has ever trusted him like that so quickly. No one was ever so kind to him from the start (With the exception of old man Sarutobi. Even making friends with konohamaru had taken a little while, and all the others well, it had taken missions, trust, life or death situations before any of them even trusted him enough.).

Itachi’s eyes seemed to soften a little, it was so faint Naruto felt like he was maybe hallucinating the whole thing.

“You are not a burden. It will be simpler if you stay with us; for your alibi. It will also be easier to get a hold of you just in case we find anything.’’ He seemed to hesitate only for a moment. ’’It’s also the first time I’ve seen my little brother do something else than glare at someone. I think it’ll be good for him to have someone he doesn’t hate around. Other than me. We’ll take the time this weekend tofind cloths your size and other amenities you’ll need before your first pay check.“ Itachi said, putting a hand on Naruto’s shoulder again.

Naruto had a feeling the brothers were not usually the touchy-feely type, so it was a weird feeling to be on the receiving end of it. A good type of weird. The best type of weird.

“Wait, I’m going to get paid?” Naruto exclaimed, feeling better about the whole thing “That’s awesome!” He brandished a fist in the air. “Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll repay everything you did for me! Believe it! I wont let you guys down.”He said, smiling. A small weight lifting of his shoulders.

The hand on his shoulder suddenly tightened, on the border of painful, when he heard Itachi again;

“Just know that if somehow our trust was misplaced.... If somehow this was all a ploy...super human or not, I know how to make someone suffer and disappear.” He said, with an icy look. His face had changed completely. Naruto didn’t know if it was the light around them or not, but he though he saw a red sheen in Itachi’s eyes.

Wide eyed, (He’d never admit it, but the look had him sweating a bit under his shirt) he just gave a nod at the man, understanding a threat when he heard one. ‘Touch my family and you die’.

He could get behind that. He didn’t plan on betraying the brothers after all. He wouldn’t let anything happent to them , not if he could help it.

Satisfied he was understood, Itachi patted the shoulder once, before letting go and continuing towards the stairs. Leaving behind a baffled but impressed Naruto.

—————-

Going through the wooden door, they were back inside the cozy little coffee shop. There were still people at the tables, but less so than when Naruto and Sasuke first arrived.Itachi was walking towards a pink haired girl behind the counter with them, and started to speak to her in low tones. Approaching them he understood that she must be the Sakura Itachi was talking about.

She was a beautiful girl, soft pink hair at shoulder length, green jade eyes and a normal sized chest (He was still traumatized by the old hag). She was a little on the small side in height, only arriving at Naruto’s shin level, making her appear even smaller besides Itachi. She was sporting a brown apron with the CAFE logo in front that stopped at her knees and hugged her figure nicely. He was starting to wonder if being a top model was a prerequisite to work here. Looking at the Uchiha brothers, that Kakashi guy and now that Sakura girl.

Appearance has never been something Naruto paid a lot of attention to (Except when something jumped at his face like Tsunade or Kakashi). He usually woke up and used his hands to brush his hair and that was about it. Being a ninja full time, he never really took the time to be conscious of his appearance. He never really cared for it anyway (And hesomehow doubted he ever would); it wouldn’t change the way the villagers would treat him, so he never saw a point to it. But now, looking at all these people around him, he felt just a little self conscious and out of place. Too easily accepted, everything was too easy. When would the other shoe drop?

Itachi signaled Naruto to approach the duo. When he was close enough, he offered a smile to Sakura and was relieved at the easy return.

’’Naruto, this is Sakura. She’ll brief you on what you’ll do and how we work.’’ Itachi said.

Sakura offered her hand to shake to Naruto, and Naruto took it, expecting the soft hands to be that, soft and fragile.

What he got was the grip of a gorilla 6 times his size that almost broke his hand in half. He yelped and took back his hand, massaging the hurt appendage, looking wide eyed at the girl in a new light. She was strong for her size!

’’Hi! I’m Haruno Sakura, I’m the medic of the team and also a part time worker at the Coffee shop. Nice to meet you.’’ She said, joyful.

Amused, Itachi left them to go back to whatever he did to work.

’’ Nice to meet you too huh,Miss Haruno ‘‘ he replied, not sure where he stood yet with the pink haired girl. He never really understood girls. Better stay on neutral ground with that one for the moment.

’’ You can call me Sakura’’ she said with a grimace, ‘’Miss seems too old fashioned. Sorry about the grip earlier, I’m used to being underestimated around here so I like to surprise new people a bit.’’ She said around an easy smile. He already liked her attitude.

’’ Well consider me surprised, and bruised.’’ He said, finding himself returning the smile easily with a grin of his own. ’’ I get it though, happens to me all the time too.’’ He doesn’t mention that it usually happens when people try to kill him or destroy the entire village, which happens way to often.

’’ So from what I got each of you have a role here?’’. He asked, ready for some answers.

Sakura looks a bit surprised at the question. ’’No one filled you in? When Itachi told me you applied for the translator position I though you were mostly filled in. Typical of them.’’ She stated mumbling about stupid men. ’’ Let me just put a message on the counter, I’ll take my break to explain everything to you. That way we wont get interrupted every 5 minutes.’’ She went and put up a white cardboard on the counter. ’’There! Follow me.’’

She led them at the back of the shop where an empty table stood with two small chairs. A bit afraid that it would be easy for anyone to overhear them, he looked around them a bit. Noticing the worried look, she just shook her head at him and waved a hand. ’’ Don’t worry, the ambient noise, the music and the fact that people don’t care about other people’s conversation makes it easy to talk casually here. Hiding in plain sight as the saying goes.’’ She says, sitting down. Taking the seat in front of her, he waited for her to elaborate.

Taking a deep breath, she started:

’’Okay so, bear with me; this is going to be a lot of info to take in. We all kind of have our own specialities here. You still have to have basic training and skills; combat, a bit of robotics and computers, tactical and gun training, dabble a bit in languages and all, but we all have our specific niche if you would call it that. That’s why we were recruited in the first place.’’

’’As I said earlier; I’m the medic but also the explosives specialist. Disarm a bomb? Done. Shoot a rocket at someone? Show me the target. Missing an arm? I’ll take care of it.’’ She explained.

Naruto was gaping a bit, this girl was badass! And a little bit scary, even though he would never admit it out loud. She made him think of Anko from back home in a way. The teacher was merciless and missing a few hinges in her brain. But strong as fuck.

Sakura was smiling in front of him, satisfied with the awed face.

’’ We also have Itachi, that you already know. He specializes in infiltration and piloting. He once infiltrated a mafia gang for about 2 years without ever being discovered!’’ She exclaimed, clearly a fan of bad-assery. That was good, because Naruto wastoo. Infiltration work was one of his worst traits. He sucked so bad after the first mission of its kind. He just punched the guy he was supposed to befriend after 2 hours. Suffice to say he was never given an infiltration mission again. He was overall just a bad actor and his emotions were way to easy to read on his face. 2 years undiscovered in a gang was an amazing feat.

’’Piloting?’’ Naruto said, not totally understanding that one.

’’Piloting! He can drive anything from a car, to a boat, to a jet, even a space rocket wouldn’t surprise me at this point honestly. I even saw him pilot a small submarine for a mission. It was awesome’’ She said, clearly remembering the event in her mind. Blushing a bit.

Girls were weird.

Naruto didn’t really get half of what she said except the car and the boat (And that was only because he learned about them this morning and the other he already knew from his world), so he concluded that they were all modes of transport. He’d probably have to ask Sasuke about them later, so he doesn’t appear as an idiot later on.

’’Okay, and what does Sasuke Bastard do?’’ Naruto asked, eager to know more.

Sakura looked at him a little weirdly at the nickname but answered none less; ’’Sasuke’s also a pilot, but he specializes in weaponry. Mainly guns, short range and long range. But I once saw him take down 4 guys with a samurai sword! I’m still pretty sure he kept it as a souvenir.’’ She said, again with that dreamy look in her eyes, hand on her cheek.

’’ You also have Rock Lee, but he’s not here for the moment, he took on a contract to train some new recruits for the FBI for a few months. He specializes in hand to hand combat. Any martial arts technique, he’ll know about it!’’ This time, the sentence was accompanied by a soft smile and a faraway look. ’’He can be a bit much, but he’s really serious about his work.’’ She continued. Naruto felt like he was intruding on something important for a moment. Sakura blushed a bit before recovering.’’ Sorry about that, that was unprofessional’’.

’’Don’t worry about it, you must really like this guy huh?’’ Naruto said with a small smile.

Sakura visibly relaxed and nodded.

’’Then there’s Kiba Inuzuka, he doesn’t come here unless its for a mission, says the place stinks or something. He’s a bit of a hard head but good at his job. He specializes in animals and their training. His dog can snif a bomb or a specific drug from a mile away! It’s quite impressive.’’

’’Well from what you’re telling me, all of you are impressive. You guys sound like an awesome team’’ he said wistfully.He wished his teammates talked about him like Sakura did for hers. But he knew better.

’’And then there’s the translator, expert in all languages. That’s the seat you’re going for anyway. The last one didn’t really fit in with us in all honesty. But I don’t think it’ll be a problem for you’’ She said with a welcoming smile.

’’Most of us have different shifts in between missions at the coffee shop as cover and to help out. You’ll probably be working with me for most of your shifts.’’ She said, seeming exited at the idea of having a new partner.

He felt a bit guilty that this arrangement was temporary. Hopefully he would go home soon and he wouldn’t be staying here too long. (His place wasn’t with them, he was never meant to even meet these people) He told himself it was normal to feel that way. Everyone accepted him as one of their own so easily and it was kinda hard to believe. He already felt comfortable with the pink haired girl. He knew they would get along just fine. He kinda wished he had people like her back home. People that just treated him as a normal human being and accepted him into the team without doubt or question. Sakura didn’t know him at all, but she seemed to take for granted the jugement of Itachi and Tsunade, and trusted that jugement implicitly. It was like a breeze of fresh air for Naruto. He felt more welcomed in a world that wasn’t even his own than back home in 21 years. It was a sad though.

But then the blond noticed a missing detail from Sakura’s explanation.

’’What about Kakashi? You didn’t mention him at all.’’ He said, now intrigued.’’ Isn’t he part of your team too?’’ He purposefully said your team and not their team. He wasn’t a part of it yet, and he was not planning on staying long. The thought hurt a bit more than expected.

Sakura just blinked for a second before seeming to come to her senses; ’’Right! That’s because he is part of the team, but at the same time not really.’’

Naruto wrinkled his nose. That didn’t make any sense whatsoever.

Sakura laughed a bit at his face before explaining;’’ He does missions for us, and specializes in marksmanship; sniper and assassin techniques, but he also works for higher ups. He is our liaison with other agencies like the FBI, CIA or the local authorities and such. He’s a bit everywhere.‘‘ She then came closer to him across to table making him lean to be closer for her to whisper ’’Rumour has it he hides most of his face because he has too many enemies, or that he’ll be named the next director of the agency so he doesn’t want to be recognized.’’

Naruto would be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed. Being an assassin was no walk in the park. Not easy work mentally or physically. It was the type of mission he hated the most. Taking a life was always something Naruto tried to avoid when he could, but sometimes the skills of a jinchuriki were required for the job and he had no choice. He didn’t live in a world where he got to choose his missions. He’d learned that quickly enough. His loyalty was with the village, and sometimes that took precedence over his own personal feelings. He’d been lucky the old man Hokage had tried to shield him from those missions for so long, but after a few years the pressure from the council to use his skills had been too big. Still, It was part of being a ninja and even if unpleasant, he would not shied from the reality of it. He was no disillusioned small boy anymore. Hasn’t been for a long time.

A small detail was still nagging him.

’’But, how can he be a marksman with just one eye?’’Naruto asked in a whisper, remembering the eyepatch. He didn’t want to sound rude, but it just didn’t sound practical. At all.

Sakura laughed.’’Oh don’t worry, he has perfect vision in both eyes actually.’’ She said.’’But its not my place to tell you about it.’’

’’Maa maa Sakura. Are you talking about me behind my back?’’ A voice said from their left.

The two adults jumped in their chair, Sakura reacting by punching kakashi in the stomach. Naruto made a note to himself never to surprise Sakura. It looked a bit painful even for the grey haired man, if the way he clenched his one visible eye was anything to go by. The man had managed to sneak up on them while they were talking.

’’That’s for sneaking up on us Kakashi! How long have you’ve been listening to us anyway?’’ Sakura said, shaking her fist in front of him.

’’Maa, I’m sorry Sakura. I just learned we had a new translator in our midst and couldn’t help but overhear some of it.’’ He replied, eye curving in what looked like a smile under his mask. The man was definitely weird.

Naruto didn’t even know how it was possible that the grey haired man knew when he himself just learned about it not an hour ago.

’’That’s right! Naruto this is Kakashi, Kakashi, this is Naruto, our new translator!’’ Sakura said, eager for Naruto to meet new people and make him feel welcomed.

’’We met this morning.’’ Naruto answered, never straying his gaze too far from the other man. ’’But nice to meet you officially all the same.’’ With that, he extended his hand in a greeting.

Kakashi looked a it for a moment, his expressions a total mystery for Naruto, before he firmly took the hand and shook it.

’’The pleasure is all mine.’’ The man said smoothly. A pause, before he continued, hand still clenched in Naruto’s.’’ **I heard you can speak a lot of languages, that’s impressive.** ’’ He said, accent made thick but seeming flawless in prononciation.

Naruto was pretty sure Kakashi had said the last sentence in an other language, but same as yesterday with the brothers, appart from thethickening of the accent and the small differences in prononciation, it still sounded the same to his ears. That was another problem they’d have to get to the bottom of. But since it didn’t seem dangerous for the moment, it wasn’t the most pressing matter. He just hopped he could bullshit his way out if this, remembering Sasuke’s words from this morning. The man would not be easily fooled.

’’ **Its nothing like what you do** ’’He answered, hopefully in the same language. He had his free hand behind his head, scratching at it nervously. He was just going in blind in this. He didn’t even know how he was answering so easily. It was a little creepy if he was honest with himself.

’’Impressive’’ Kakashi said, finally releasing his now clammy hand, (he was stressed alright?) ’’ You even know a dead language like Latin. I just know a few words myself. Where did you learn?’’ The man asked, his attention fully on the blond, curious.

Crap.

Naruto was starting to sweat again. The plan was going to be ruined, he couldn’t bullshit to save his life, he was the worst liar to ever lie. Their plan would go to shit not even two hours after it started and it would be his fault.

’’Leave the poor man alone Kakashi, its his first day and you’re already interrogating him.’’ Sakura interrupted, having seen Naruto stressing but completely misunderstanding the reason why. Bless her soul, he would be the best barista partner to ever make coffee, he swore on it. Releasing a breath, he smiled nervously at Kakashi, praying the older man would just take the excuse and leave it at that. One eye on him was already intense, he didn’t want to imagine with his two eyes.

Kakashi looked like he was about to protest, liking that he was making the blond flustered so easily for whatever reason but one look at Sakura shut him up pretty quickly. He wasn’t suicidal. He liked his nuts where they were thank you.

’’Well, break time’s over. Come with me Naruto, I’ll show you how to serve coffee and tend to the tables. You’ll see, its easy work!’’ With that said, The pink haired girl grabbed Naruto and dragged him off behind the counter to explain how it worked.

—————————-

Kakashi, for a reason that was still unknown to him, had decided to _not_ go home to relax, and instead sat down at the now empty table to observe their newest member. He had his trusty book out, so he didn’t look like a total creep. He didn’t really care either way.

The blond was intriguing. That in itself was strange for Kakashi. Usually new recruits or new members, even anyone really; They never grabbed his attention for long.He could size someone up with one glance. People were open books to him. Boring open books. He’d looked and worked with the Uchiha brothers and had already gauged who they were inside within the first day. Sakura with the first glance and handshake (He still remembers it, outch). All the others; predictable. So predictable.

There was a reason he was good at his job. And he was the best. Being a liaison agent had its challenges and difficulties, but Kakashi was a pro when it came to misleading and having people where he wanted them. It was part of the job. It was one of the only things he was proud of.

Naruto whoever... It was an other story. The base character was there; he didn’t have a lot of contact with the blond, but he could already tell he was fiercely protective of his friends (Sasuke this morning), he smiled easily(that smile this morning nearly blinded him, who smiled at strangers like that?) he looked fit, and went to the same school as Sasuke (If he believed what the ebony haired man said) So the blond at least knew how to defend himself. But how skilled? he didn’t look like much from the first glance. 

What was puzzling was.... Naruto didn’t look like the type of person with enough patience to learn languages, let alone dead ones (The blond was at his fourth try of coffee, and Sakura looked like she was already out of patience with him.). He wasn’t one to judge a passion based on character and appearances, but Naruto had looked like a deer caught in headlights when Kakashi had changed languages. That was not the look of a practiced linguist.

Yet...

Yet he’d answered perfectly. That’s also not something you can fake on the fly.

There was just something about him That Kakashi could not explain, and Kakashi hated not knowing. His quick search of the man on the net after this morning proved fruitless, but that didn’t bother him too much. It just meant a challenge. Plus, Sasuke’s clear dismissal of him this morning was also his way of telling Kakashi to butt out. He had no intention to do so.

He told himself it was only normal, the blond could be a spy or a danger to the team if he kept secrets from them. He would only be doing his job to protect the city.

He saw Sakura approaching his table a few hours later with a small coffee, giving it to him. He said his thanks and drank a small sip. Just the way he liked it. Sakura always made the best coffees.

“I know what you’re doing Kakashi.” She said suddenly, still at his side. She was looking at Naruto, who was cautiously approaching the customers tables for the first time with the orders. Brand new brown apron on him. It fit his form perfectly. He was a handsome man, she might have tried something if she wasn’t already irrevocably in love with someone else. He had no talent for coffee making however. She gave up on him making coffee at his tenth miss. He had no talent whatsoever. She hoped his serving would be better. She like the blond a lot. He treated her like an equal from the start and she appreciated that from him. Only Lee did that the first time they met. Everyone always underestimated her. Her being small and a girl didn’t help matters.

Kakashi continued sipping his coffee, appearing unperturbed by her. “Whatever do you mean Sakura? I’ve been reading.” He answered, realizing too late his mistake.

“Uh uh, and the fact that you’re still here when you had a day off and you’ve been reading the same page for 15minutes is normal? Admit it, you’re here because of Naruto.’’ She said, entirely satisfied when he sputtered a bit at her words.

“I’m just curious, we don’t get new people often.” He replied. Trying to save face. “I’m a bit worried too, he doesn’t look like he could defend himself if shove comes to fight.”

Sakura was just about to answer him, when they noticed a customer sneakily squeezing Naruto’s bum while he was putting the coffee (that Sakura made) on the clients table. Sakura recognized the man. She’d punched his face in a few times and once even called the police on the guy. He never did more than say a few lewd words and touch, but he was a damn pervert all the same. Had she noticed he’d been the one asking for the order she would’ve warned poor Naruto beforehand.

She was about to go interfere when the blond let out a weird squeeking sound at the grab,

He took the offending arm, raised it over his shoulder-

And just flipped the guy over him and into the ground. All in the space of a few seconds.

Sakura had her mouth hanging open, a hand in front of it. All the clients around them were silent and awed.

A few seconds passed, the guy was unconscious on the ground. Naruto seemed to wake up from his shock and blushed a bright red, embarrassed by his reflex to just hurl the pervert. The guy deserved it, but damnit, he’d been trying to act normal and this was just not helping his case. On his first day none less.

He heard a few people start clapping at his action and just tried to go hide behind the counter. Looking around for Sakura to help him.

Sakura had stopped looking at the blond and had turned to look at kakashi, intent on telling him the blond could take care of himself without any problem, but the words died on her lips.

Was that a blush on the older man face? His eyes were still fixed on the blond.

Sakura cackled. This was getting better and better.

——————————

Sasuke and Itachi had come to get him a bit before closing time. He was exhausted from his first day as a barista. He hoped translating stuff will be a bit more relaxing. He said his goodbyes to Sakura, and noticed that Kakashi was nowhere to be found. The man must have left earlier. 

He refused to go into the car again and decided to walk back like this morning to take some much needed fresh air. Sasuke grumbled but followed him while Itachi took his car. He was grateful for that as he still didn’t fully know the way back alone. The detours from this morning hadn’t helped his case.

He still took some time to enjoy all the night light the huge city had to offer. It was truly a beautiful sight at night. Everything was lit up.

He and Sasuke made some small talk on the way back, Sasuke having sensed that the blond was not up for serious discussions. The younger brother made fun of him for the thing that happened with the pervert. He’d heard what happened through Sakura, the traitor.

When they got back to the apartment, Itachi was already in the kitchen, heating some leftovers from the day before.They ate mostly in silence.

Naruto was in his room, changing to some pyjamas (Sasuke told him tomorrow they could go shopping for some cloths for him) when he heard a knock at the door. Already knowing it would be Sasuke (He hasn’t lost his senses yet). He answered with a come in.

Sasuke opened the door as expected and sat on the bed besides Naruto. He was holding something in his hands. When he noticed Naruto looking curiously at it, he simply gave it to him.

It was his travel pouch. The one he’d travelled with in time. The one with his Konoha I.D. And his shurinkens and his scrolls. Speechless, he took the pouch and kept it close to him, feeling something in his chest constrict at the sight.

“Why?” He simply asked the other man, knowing Sasuke would understand the question without having to elaborate on it.

“I... Itachi and I, we trust you, Naruto. We decided we’d try and help you anyway we can, to get you back home.” Sasuke said simply, looking at his hands on his lap. “Its yours, you should keep it.” He continued.

Naruto felt his throat constrict. He had no words. No words to describe how grateful he was at that moment. He nodded, hoping Sasuke understood he couldn’t speak. Thankful he’d fallen(literally) on the path of these two brothers, and thankful for the easy acceptance of the people he met today.

Sasuke just let out a small smile and got up quietly to leave the room, leaving Naruto to his own thoughts.

When he opened his bag, he noticed his Konoha headband first. Taking it out slowly, he placed it on his nightstand besides the bed.

Today had been a long day.

He hoped tomorrow would get easier.

He looked out his window, and wondered if someone was looking for him in his time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. This chapter was a bit exhausting to write. But it was the last introductory chapter. Normally by the next one the story should start. Can’t wait!


	9. HERO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto was never known to sit still and do nothing in the face of danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story un-betaed, Enjoy! :)

Chap. 9 HERO

Days passed like a blur and before long it was already the end of October. The temperature was getting colder by the day, and he’d been in this world for a little more than two weeks. It already felt like a lifetime. Sasuke and he shopped for new clothes( And some coats, because it was damn freezing), he learned how to be a better barista with Sakura and how to handle unwanted clients (that perv kept coming back, the persistent asshole). He got a small desk from Tsunade and started sharing an office space with everyone else for his ‘main job’(the basement was way bigger than expected, and behind one of the closed doors lay a huge open spaced office.).

He met Shizune, who gave him his own access card. Like everyone else, she treated him with kindness and was friendly with him from the beginning. He also briefly met the other people working there that Sakura told him about on his first day.

There was Lee; The guy had crazy energy and always wore cool green spandex(Sasuke swore he would poison his food if he ever though of wearing something similar) he could see why Sakura liked him. There was also Kiba; At first the two clashed a bit, being pig headed and loud, But later on they bonded on their easy love for animals. They were rarely all in the office at the same time, having their own missions and shifts and lives. So it was mostly 2 or 3 people at all times there.

He never went on missions like the others, for various reasons stated by the old hag; the risk was too big, someone could discover his powers (it was chakra, lady, not powers.) he could let something slip, no one higher up knew he existed etc. He understood those reasons, but it didn’t make them less suck-y. So he stayed at his desk, and did the things he hated the most : _Write and do nothing_. For the others, he was still on probation, a trial of sort to see if he would permanently get the job or not. It was a good enough reason not to allow him on missions and hide his identity (That, and you didn’t often need a translator to apprehend bad guys or diffuse a bomb, he’d give them that).

He got a new identity on paper (Courtesy of Tsunade), a new story to his life (They tried to make it as close to the truth as possible, so he would have less risk of making mistakes when meeting new people).

It all felt too much like a new beginning, a new beginning that was bound to end.

He wasn’t meant to stay in this world, in this time. It wasn’t his place.

And yet....

Yet the small Coffee shop felt more like a home in the two weeks he’d been there than the last 20 years back in the village where they only tolerated him at most. He also had a place to come back to after work with people who didn’t hate him. They cooked for him and he tried cooking for them, (there was that one incident when Itachi bought a fire extinguisher after, they don’t talk about it.) they talked about his life and they talked a bit about theirs. He felt like he had a family; two brothers who welcomed him into their lives so easily, too easily (He still clashed with Sasuke on the occasion, but that was because he was a bastard, no blame on his part, no sir). The brothers showed him the new technologies, the TVs and planes and their world’s history. This time was fascinating in its own way. So different from his own, in their advancements, cultures and ways of being, yet still the same with its own vices and bad people.

He was honestly still waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the inevitable rejection and hate.

A few days ago, he started walking alone from the apartment to the CAFE, having learned the way after a few times. He and Sasuke didn’t always have the same shifts, so he quickly learned how to orient himself in the city alone.

He still refused to go into any cars, so he took his time to walk. It calmed him a bit. Back home he never took the time to just walk around and observe what was happening around him. He was always in a hurry to whatever his destination, running on the roofs, never stopping.

There was so much to see in the city, so much to learn. Just walking the half hour had Naruto discovering something new each time. He tried to take different routes in the morning, getting ready a bit earlier than needed. Sometimes Sasuke would come with him, other times he would go ahead of Naruto and take his beloved bike. Itachi always took his car, the lazy weirdo.

Observing people and the things around him also stopped him from thinking too hard about his own predicament. He was getting restless and frustrated. He didn’t know what to do, couldn’t really do anything really, and he wasn’t used to being useless. Clueless. Purposeless. You get the drift.

Tsunade still had nothing for him on Ichinorida, and he was starting to doubt the guy even landed here with him to begin with. He was starting to doubt he would ever go back to Konoha. He didn’t have the first clue on the jutsu that was used, and no ressources here to study or look for it, much less learn it. Maybe Ichinorida had died while trying to activate his jutsu. Maybe Naruto was the only one transported in time and the guy stayed with Sai back in their timeline (he hoped not, he hoped Sai wasn’t left alone to deal with the murderous asshole). Either way, he was screwed for the moment.

Today he’d decided to change routes again, and was in what appeared to be an Asian market. (American culture, he learned, was very different than his own, that was apparently the closest to Asian here) Colourful articles were on display in the windows and on small artisanal stands. Clothes ( He recognized some traditional kimonos and Yukatas, some things stayed the same.), foods that smelled like the heavens itself and small souvenirs were sold on every corner. It reminded him a bit of home and instantly liked the place more for it. Calculating in his head how long he’d been walking, he estimated that he still had plenty of time to look around a bit more.

He stopped at a stand with some masks and looked around. The masks made him think about the ones they buy at festivals back home, some even resembling the Anbu ones. Behind the stand was an older man, painting yet another one into what looked like an intricate cat face. He didn’t know much about art, wasn’t even the best to appreciate it, but he liked the designs painted by the old man. There was even one that strangely enough made him think of kakashi. It was a grey wolf mask with blue lines on it.

Kakashi was another difficult obstacle. He was the one that constantly asked him questions he couldn’t answer easily, or that he just couldn’t answer. Out of the rest, the Uchiha brothers and Naruto decided he was the one more at risk of discovering something amiss. So they tried to lead him astray with diversions. Often it didn’t help a lot. It was a good thing the man wasn’t the most present at the shop. He also didn’t work behind the counter like Sakura and he, being a liaison agent and all. So most of the time he was trying to bother Naruto while the blond was working at the coffee shop.

The man was a mystery. Naruto had to admit to being curious about him. there was just something about the one eyed man that appealed to the blond in a way no one else had. While he now knew most of Sakura’s life (A girl will alway be a girl in his book) and a bit about Sasuke and Itachi, he knew almost next to nothing about the grey haired marksman. He was a pro at deflecting questions aimed at him and was always bringing the conversations where he wanted them, to his dismay.

He absently picked another mask. This one was obviously meant to be a fox mask. It had three colours on it ; on the white background were orange lines and dots on the forehead, red lines marking the whiskers on the sides and face in general, and black around the small eyes and snout. It made him think of Kyuubi and home. It was perfect in its own way. _Also a good way to be depressed before work_ he though darkly.

He’d gotten his first pay a few days ago (It was all cash, him having no bank accounts in this world). He was happy to finally be able to contribute for some of the food he’d been inhaling back at the apartment, but otherwise didn’t buy anything else with it yet. What was the point? Any day he could end up going back to his own time, and he was pretty certain nothinghe bought would follow him back. Buying things was useless, as much as he liked them.

But the mask.....well, it wouldn’t be a bother to the Uchiha brothers if he brought it back with him to the apartment. It wasn’t expensive. It would be something for himself. It certainly wouldn’t hurt anyone. It was the first item from this world he really liked. It reminded him of home.

(The clothes here didn’t count, they were so un-practical, no matter how much Sasuke said they were in fashion. He didn’t care damnit, he missed his orange jacket and pants). 

Naruto was turning the mask around in his hands, still contemplating the buy when suddenly the strong smell of smoke assaulted his nostrils. He then registered some people screaming down the street from him. Turning to get a better look, he saw a cloud of black smoke curling towards the sky coming out of an appartement window on the fourth floor of a rundown building. There were people getting out of the building and the ones surrounding it.

Throwing way more cash than needed at the old man behind the stand, Naruto yelled some thanks and sprinted towards the building on fire without even thinking.

Arriving at the scene in a few seconds, he took stock of the people outside. He saw a women with her younger childin her arms screaming something about someone in the building and went to her.

’’Excuse me, are you saying someone is still stuck in there?’’Naruto said to the frantic women trying to get her attention.

She turned to look at him, eyes wide with fear. ’’ Yes! The building is old, the alarm never went off, we all noticed because of the smell and the smoke.’’ She took a deep breath, still in shock, ’’ We called the firefighters, but they wont get here in time! There’s an older man on the fifth floor, he wont have heard or seen anything. He’s going to die! ’’ She continued.

Naruto swore and looked around, the women having already moved away to try and get help. If what she said was true, someone was stuck up there with no help, and with a fire on the floor under them rapidly spreading.

He bit his lips. He’d promised Sasuke and Tsunade that he would stay low, because he could put everyone at risk by getting discovered, but he couldn’t just do nothing when someone was in danger either!

Think. Think. Think. Think, What would Kurama do?

Probably eat the person. Bad plan.

He went to pull at his hair in frustration and bonked his head on something hard. He took notice off the object in his hands.

The mask! He’d forgotten about it already.

The smoke was getting thicker, most of the building now engulfed in deadly flames, and Naruto formed a plan. Getting into a small alley on the next street, he made sure he was alone before taking off his jacket and scarf, leaving him in his black shirt beneath it and his jeans. Common enough not to get recognized . He formed the seals for a quick and simple henge, changing his hair colour to red and making them appear slightly longer (Even he had to admit his blond hair were a bit too recognizable). Being done with the hair and appearance, he put on his final touch; his brand new fox mask.

With that disguise, no one would be able to tell who he was or recognize him. It was perfect.

Not taking the time to think of anything else, he dashed out of the alley, mask firmly hiding his face, and back towards the burning building. He barely noticed the gasps and sounds people made as he ran passed them at full speed. Never stopping, he jumped on the outside wall of the building. Using a little bit of chakra on his feet and the momentum, he began to run on the vertical wall towards an open window on the fifth floor.

By now he was noticed by more than a dozen onlookers, all of them yelling and pointing at him but he didn’t care. Saving a life was more important. Besides, with his henge and mask, no one would be able to know its him.

He arrived at an open window and didn’t waste anytime jumping in.

Finally into the burning building Naruto didn’t waste time calling after the old man. The flames were hot on his skin, and his eyes were already teary eyed from the burning. Taking a deep breath and inhaling smoke instead, Naruto coughed into his hand. The apartment was dark, his visibility almost nil.

Putting an arm in front of his face, he continued on into the building, still calling out to the man. Giving up was not an option. The floor was hot under his shoes, and he could see a few places where it had already given out to the rage of the flames. Determined, he went deeper into the appartement, not seeing anyone. Getting out of the appartement he was in, he landed in front of the stairs leading down the building.

He called after the person again, now wondering if he would find anyone alive in the inferno, when he heard a weak grunt coming from down the stairs.

Getting down the flight of stairs quickly, he noticed through the smoke the shape of a man on the ground, halfway down the fourth floor. The old man was visibly having a hard time breathing and was gasping on the floor, The flames and smoke around them both getting closer to embrace him by the second.

Naruto flew into action, taking the man over his right shoulder like a sack of potatoes (No time to act delicately, they had to get out of there, ASAP) He ran back into the appartement he came from, and headed straight for the open window. He felt the floor give out under them just when he was nearing the exit and grabbed the window still to catapult himself and the man out into the open air. The groan of the collapsing floor behind the only thing following them into their jump.

The sudden wind on his face felt like a breath of fresh air.

Never letting the man on his shoulders go, he touched down on the asphalt on his two feet, being careful to soften the landing for his charge. Relief flooded him. He’d done it! He saved the guy and kept his identity a secret at the same time. Tsunade and Sasuke would never know, and he could continue on with his life as usual and go to work.

With that in mind and entirely satisfied with himself, Naruto took the man off from his shoulder and gently deposited him on the floor, before looking up for the first time to get someone to help the man.

Big red cars with men in uniform,other smaller cars with flashing lights and more people in uniform, and about fifty people were all watching him with varying expressions of shock on their faces.

Naruto gulped. Maybe he hadn’t though this through after all.No one was moving, waiting for the other to do the first move. He saw some people had their phones out and pointed at him, others were speaking into some type of device. 

Uh ho. He was screwed big time.

He saw a person start towards him that looked like a medic and took a split decision to let the older man go and run in the opposite direction without a word. But as soon as he turned around, there was a girl with a phone pointed at him way to close to his masked face.

’’ Oh my god you just saved a man and flew out from the fifth floor of a burning building without a scratch!!’’ She screamed in his face.

’’huh..’’ Naruto said, not sure what to do. He looked around for an escape.

’’ You’re a hero! What’s your name?’’ She continued, insistant, getting the phone closer to him.

Not knowing what to say and feeling a bit trapped, Naruto said the first thing that came to his mind.

’’Name’s Kyuubi!’’ He said. With that, he used his Shushing no jutsu* to disappear from the crowd gathering around him.

He reappeared in the alley where he’d left his coat, once more looking around to make sure he was alone before quickly putting his new mask in his pouch. He ended his henge and put on his coat and scarf before anyone could see him. He was late for workand he was pretty sure at least a few people had filmed him.

He was so dead.

——————-

Naruto ran the rest of the way to work, the main reason being that he was freaking late, the second was because he was pretty sure at least some people had seen him and filmed him while he went into the burning building to save the old man.

Maybe it wasn’t the most intelligent thing to do, but Naruto was never known for his thinking. He saw people in danger, he acted on it. That was who he was. Who he hoped he would always be. Not doing anything would never be an option. Not if he could help it.

Relief washed over him at seeing the sign in the distance. He slowed down to a jog, checking himself one last time to make sure he had nothing incriminating on him and went to open the door to the coffee shop. Instead, the door opened for him before he could reach for the handle, and he came face to face with the wolf himself.

Kakashi.

“Why good morning Naruto, in a hurry I see?” the grey haired said, his visible eye curving upward. 

The bastard, Naruto was pretty sure he knew the blond was late as fuck to work but he was still blocking the way in. It was just like the first time they met.

“Yes yes now could you please let me pass before Sakura eviscerates me for being late?” Naruto said, a nervous laugh in the back of his throat. The mask in his bag suddenly felt heavier than it was. He really hoped Kakashi didn’t find his attitude weird or telling.

“Well we certainly wouldn’t want that now would we?” The man said, a smile making itself known through his mask. He straightened up, apparently about to let Naruto through without any more fuss, before he stopped short and looked at Naruto again, smile gone. A hand reached towards his head and passed through his hair, unexpectedly gentle, before coming back with a little bit of black soot on his gloved hand. “What’s this? And why do you smell like smoke?” The man asked. He was now clearly not moving anymore and blocking the entryway, waiting for an answer from the blond.

So so screwed.

Did he mention he was dead?

Nervously laughing now, Naruto brought a hand through his hair to try and get rid of the evidence. “Well um, there was a fire on my way here, and uh, I saw some people...” He had to keep it close to the truth, just like they talked about with Tsunade. “They needed help! So I just waited with them for the firefighters to arrive! yeah! that why I smell like smoke!” He finished, scratching the back of his head in a nervous gesture. Well, it was mostly the truth. He hoped mentioning the firefighters that the women talked about would save his ass.

The older man was clearly not buying any of the shit he was saying and looked like he was about to ask more questions, when they were interrupted by Sasuke inside the coffee shop.

“Dobe! Get inside already, Tsunade wants to see you.” Sasuke said, eyeing the two of them at the entrance. “ **I would hurry if I were you, she’s pissed** ” he added in Japanese, knowing kakashi would not understand it. The ebony haired man was evidently also pissed, judging by the expression he was sporting.

He was dead-er than dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shushing no jutsu : Teleportation technique often used in Naruto by kakashi, Jiraya and other characters
> 
> Finally! Some action :D


	10. Kyuubi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, a lead!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is extremely long. But I really didn’t want to cut it in two. And I also really wanted to finish it there. I just think the story got away from me a bit.

Chap. 10 Kyuubi

Kakashi looked at the back of the hastily retreating blond in silence. His one eye narrowed in thought as he watched Sasuke say something else in Japanese to the blond, resulting in more nervous gesturing. Sasuke then took the others arm and dragged Naruto towards the back of the store where the door to the staircase was.

He continued to watch until they disappeared behind the door.

He looked back absently at his gloved fingers, touching the black soot between his thumb and forefinger. The blond was so easy to read, bold lettering inked on an open book. Nervous, guilty, stressed (Sunny, expressive). But it was as if the bold lettering was in an other language entirely. Nothing made sense. The blue eyed man appeared as if he couldn’t lie to save his life and yet he was still a mystery to Kakashi.

The last two weeks, he took his time at home to do a little more research on the blond man in question, and to his surprise, found some forged papers from C.A.F.E.

Nothing else.

Don’t get him wrong, the fake papers were good. Anyone else would fall for it. Everyone else will fall for it. He would have, had he not recognized Itachi and Tsunade’s handy work. Having worked with them for years now, he knew how they worked. Based on that alone, he had to assume most of what it said was a fallacy. 

_Naruto Uzumaki. From a small village in Japan (Really? Blue eyed and blond?). Trained in Languages and some combat skills (Same school as Sasuke?). Age: 21 years old. Parents; unknown. No living relatives. No relatives found at all. Prior work experience; {enter company name that went bankrupt a few years ago in Japan}. No picture, no driving license, no assets to his name, not even a ticket in his lifetime. No plane tickets named after a Naruto Uzumaki arriving in New-York in the last two months either._ Kakashi was thought through if nothing else. He prided himself on his research skills, no one was infaillible after all. It wasn’t for nothing that he was considered the best.

But.

Naruto Uzumaki did not exist prior to him arriving in New-York. He was a ghost, a real one.

No matter what people did, they always left a trail behind them. Living witnesses, family members, footprints in the snow, _lovers._ Pictures of childhood, credit cards or passports.

In todays age and with social media it was almost impossible to erase a person so completely. Also, he somehow doubted Naruto to be the kind of person who watched his every step and habit.

But this man had absolutely nothing to his name. The only people who seemed to know him prior to his arrival here, were Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha. Kakashi had a feeling he would sooner train a pig to fly than get the brothers to reveal anything to him willingly. He would have to act intelligently if he wanted to learn anything more about their new translator.

If there was anything to say about the situation; the more a person tried to be off the radar and disappear, the more skeletons they had in their closets. He was left to wonder just what skeletons Naruto had to hide, and why. 

If he had to name one thing he hated in life (Appart from most people and sweets) it was not knowing secrets. Oh, he kept his own fair share of them, more so than any normal person, but it was entirely different when he was the one left in the dark. He simply could not let this go on.

The challenge was almost pleasant.

With one last look at the closed door, a strange determined glint in his eye, Kakashi waved at Sakura behind the counter and went out and into the busy streets.

—————————-

“Are you OUT of your FUCKING mind you brat??” Tsunade yelled in his ears. “What part don’t you understand in LAYING LOW?”

“ I don’t know what you mea-“

“Don’t you DARE try and get smart with me. Did you really think I wouldn’t be the first to know about a guy RUNNING on WALLS and going into a building on FIRE?”

“How the hell do you even know about that? It happened like 10 minutes ago-“

“What were you thinking you IMBECILE?”

“Now wait just a damn a minute there was someone in the-“

“I don’t give a rats ass about the WHY! Did you just stop and think for a damn second?” She shouted, gesturing to him.

“I had a disguise, I was fine! No one recognized me!” He said, getting frustrated but going for placating.

“That’s not even in the same dimension as the point I’m trying to make you twat !” Tsunade raged on. Papers on her desk flying off in different directions.

Naruto had enough of this.

WHAM!

“You can’t ask me to ignore someone in need!” Naruto said, both hands violently hitting Tsunades desk. “I saved that old man and I don’t regret it!” He continued, gesturing to himself violently. “My identity is not less important than someone’s life!” He continued, looking into Tsunade’s eyes and holding her furious gaze with his own blue seas of emotion. “I can’t just stand by and do nothing while people are in danger! I’m a ninja of the leaf! It’s in my blood, and nothing you say or do will ever change that.” He finished, breathing hard.

Some secret identity was never going to be more important than saving an innocent life in Naruto’s book. It was part of his Nindo, his way of being. Turning his back on someone he could easily save? He would never forgive himself. It wouldn’t make him any better than the bad guys he apprehended on a daily basis back home. To hell if it brought him more problems, it wouldn’t be the first time. He would deal with them like he always did. He didn’t care if the hag was against it. He knew he risked loosing the help she generously offered him and the friends he’d precariously made in this world, but so be it. Accepting to standby while lives were at stake... He wouldn’t be able to ever look at himself in a mirror again. Even if the thought of loosing the Uchiha brothers and the people he’d met here left him feeling almost nauseous.

The silence in the room was oppressive, the two blondes being on a standpoint, glaring et each other while the two Uchihas were at their backs silently observing the whole argument.

Finally, Tsunade let out a huge sight and sat down on her desk chair. Her hands went to her face, scrubbing tiredly at her eyes and forehead. She took an empty glass lying on her desk and filled it anew with a clear liquid that was clearly alcohol. Naruto grimaced. Alcohol in the morning was a bit much, but who was he to judge with his ramen?

“Nothing I say will change that pig head of yours will it?” She muttered tiredly. She took a small sip of her glass.

“No” he said softly. “I’ll get out of your hair if its too much trouble, I understand.” He said, taking a step back, heart in his throat.

“Sit down you brat” Tsunade let out, now irritated.

Astonished, Naruto sat back down on one of the sofas.“You... you’re not kicking me out?”

“What? Of course not. You might be an idiot at heart, but at least its in the right place.” She answered, lips faintly lifting on one side. 

He vaguely heard Sasuke in the back let out a loud snort at that. He turned to glare at him, but it was weak at best. He was still reeling from the news.

“We’ll try and cull the videos of you from this morning, there are already a dozen surfing the web.” She settled on saying (Naruto had absolutely no idea what this web place was, but it looked bad). ”We wont be able to control everything if you keep this shit up, but we’ll at least keep an eye on them if they get too close to the truth.”

Breathing through her nose, she gestured with a hand for Naruto’s bag.

“Show me this mask of yours, and what you did to your hair this morning.” Tsunade asked. “Also, since you can’t be in two places at once, we’ll have problems if you keep disappearing or being late because you just have to save every old man in danger you see. We’ll have to think of something. Fooling the general population is somewhat do-able, but fooling a highly trained team wont be a walk in the park. They’ll connect the dots faster than you think”. She explained to him. “Gods, as if this wasn’t complicated enough already!” She complained. Naruto felt a bit bad, him being the main source of her problems at the moment. But he couldn’t promise the situation wouldn’t happen again. And he would never apologize for putting the wellbeing of others first.

That made him think of his encounter with Kakashi this morning, had Sasuke not interrupted, Naruto was pretty sure he would have blurted out a few things he shouldn’t. The grey haired man made him nervous for some reason and was way to sharp for his own good. That was another problem he’d have to add to his growing list.

Then he registered the first part of what Tsunade said, and an idea popped in his head.

“Wait! I CAN be in two places at once. This could be our solution!” he exclaimed happily, getting up again from the couch in his excitement. He gave his new mask to Tsunade for inspection while talking. “Whenever there’s something delaying me, or if I’m needed elsewhere while at work, I can just leave a clone here! It’s perfect! They can easily do my work translating at C.A.F.E. while I do my thing! And no one will know better.” He babbled on, grinning from ear to ear. Happy for once that he found a simple solution to a big problem. It would make his life way easier ! And since his shadow clones had to be killed or disperse themselves to disappear and nothing usually happened in the coffee shop or when at his desk, he saw absolutely no problem. He would then get the memories of those clones afterwards, and he could slip back to work unnoticed! He was a genius.

He turned to face everyone, only to find the three looking at him like he had multiple heads. All of them speechless. His new mask already forgotten on Tsunades desk. It would’ve been funny to take a picture of Itachi, if Naruto had a camera.

“What?” Naruto said. Wondering again what he said that was weird.

“What in the seven hells are you talking about dobe?? Clones?” Sasuke said, finally breaking his silence. “This is not a joke!”

“I’m no joking bastard! I told you I was a ninja!” Naruto said right back.

“I’m starting to think your definition of what a ninja is supposed to be is Infinitely different than ours.” Itachi interrupted. “Why don’t you show us so was can go back to the matters at hand?” He said, ever logical.

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto signed the Jutsu he knew like breathing and muttered the name while summoning two clones besides him in a cloud of smoke.He saw from the corner of his eyes Itachi and Sasuke jump and go for something tucked in their waists before visibly forcing themselves to relax.

“....”

“...”

“...Are those real?” Tsunade said at last from behind the desk, eyeing the clones like they were going to go on a killing rampage in the next second. “Are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?” With that said, she emptied the glass in one fell swoop.

Sasuke was the first to come out of his stupor, walking towards one of the clones in silence before poking one directly in the chest. Clone A yelped a bit before slapping the hand away, telling the bastard off.

“I can’t believe this.” Sasuke said incredulous. “They just appeared out of thin air and are solid! In the flesh! I can’t believe this.” He repeated, still touching the clone. He circled around it.

“And “They” can hear you just fine Bastard” Clone B said, annoyed.

“We’re a little more advanced, but where I come from, everyone and their mother can do a few clones here and there. It’s one of the first techniques we learn at the academy.” Clone A finished. He was starting to look bored with everything already. The three other people in the room perked up a bit at the mention of a school. Interesting.

“And when I’m done with them, they disperse themselves or I do it. The only other way to get rid of them is if they get killed.” Naruto said.

“And killing one doesn’t affect you?” Itachi broke his silence with the question. He was walking towards clone B, observing him from all angles. Naruto nodded. ”So essentially they are you. They can do whatever you can do... and when they die, what happens?”Itachi asked. It’s been a long while since the last time Sasuke saw his older brother so curious about something.

“They simply disappear again. After that, I get the memories back from the clone.” Naruto answered, shrugging again.” Its one of my favorite techniques in battle.” He added, fondly remembering just how many times this Jutsu saved his ass in the past.

Without warning, Itachi took out his handgun (He learned what guns were early on with both the brothers love for those things.) And shot Clone B in between the eyes, watching as the clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke with a frozen expression of shock. Everyone jumped at the loud sound, not expecting it. Naruto just winced a bit at the cold kill.

“Itachi Uchiha, you are damn lucky this office is soundproof!” Tsunade shouted, hitting her desk with a punch.

Itachi simply bowed his head in a silent apology (Of course he already knew the office was soundproofed, he wasn’t stupid) before turning back towards his shocked brother and Naruto. Could they simply begin to imagine the possibilities? Espionnage, recon, missions with no deaths. They were endless. Even he had a hard time grasping just what this technique and everything else Naruto hadn’t showed them could do in their world. What it entailed. If anyone with malicious intent got a hold of what Naruto could do, he would finish either as a lab rat for the rest of his life, dead, or as a prisoner, never to be seen again. The consequences could be huge.

Tsunade was visibly thinking the same thing as him, if her troubled expression was anything to go by.

“How many of those “clones” can you do Naruto?” She settled on asking. Already trying to plan ahead of the disaster that was bound to happen.

“Hum. On an average day, easily a hundred.” Naruto answered, thinking a bit. ”I actually never tested my limit with those. If I still had Kurama, I could do even more” He said, hand under his shin.

“Who’s Kuram- No. You know what? One thing at a time.” She replied, hand massaging her forehead. She already had a hard time managing one brat, she didn’t even want to think about a hundred.“I can’t believe I’m saying this. Okay, lets say you use this technique of yours to save the day when needed. What about the disguise?” She said.

“Oh! That’s easy, I use an henge, and voila!” Naruto said, not having lost his good mood yet. He wasn’t the best at henges; animals and inanimate objects being the hardest, but one as simple as this morning, he could do any day. When he saw the exasperated faces of his three companions, he sigh and simply signalled his last clone to go ahead and show them.

Before them, the clone signed and transformed his hair color and eye color, making himself a little taller by the same occasion.

“What the-“ Sasuke jumped back from the clone a little, surprised. ”Just how many things can you do?! Do you not know what science is?” He exclaimed.

Naruto decided that he wouldn’t tell them that he could impersonate them all easily with the henge. He’d keep that little info for when it became relevant.It looked like the old hag was about to have an aneurism with it all already.

Itachi appeared fascinated with the clone’s new appearance. Tsunade just looked discouraged by the whole thing.

“It’s a basic espionage technique” Naruto replied to Sasuke’s earlier question. “And of course I know what science is! We have scientists back home too. They do... science stuff.” He finish sheepishly. In truth he had absolutely no idea what the scientists back home did. It never interested him much. He was more of an action type of guy.

“You keep saying basic, I dont think it means what you think it means.” Sasuke settled on saying. Naruto didn’t even bother to reply and just pulled out his tongue at the dark haired man and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Naruto.” Tsunade said, serious. Naruto turned from Sasuke to look at her.

“These techniques... I don’t think I need to tell you to keep them to the strict minimum. Use them only when you absolutely have to. When you are your... alter ego, don’t use the cloning while in front of other people. Anyone intelligent enough would understand the same thing as us: That you can be at two places at once.” She said, dead set on trying to make Naruto understand. When she saw that he was about to protest, she continued; “Whatever advantage you can keep, do it. Let people think you are one person and can’t change that or your appearance.” She insisted. “Don’t forget that we’re all guilty of hiding and helping you here, it’s not only yourself at risk. The less people can discover about you, the better it will be. If you’re lucky, in a few weeks at most you’ll be home and no one but us will know better. This is all just temporary”She finished with.

Right. Of course. He absently dispersed his last clone. Everyone was trying their hardest to help him get back to his time. Or place. With all the differences they honestly weren’t sure Naruto was even in the right timeline. Earth? Whatever dimension he belonged in. And here he was, making their life more difficult by the day with his hero complex. If it were only his life on the line, there would be no hesitation. But she was right, he needed to think of the rest of the team. What they were all doing for him, some without even knowing.

 _I’m not alone in this anymore_. The thought wasn’t as horrible as he thought it would be.

“Now, this wasn’t the only reason I wanted to talk to you all.... This Ichinorida you think came with you from your time. He can do all this?” Tsunade cut into his thoughts, already fearing the answer.

“Most likely.... he’s strong. Maybe stronger than me right now.” Naruto said, thinking of his dear friend Kyuubi. Without the foxes chakra, he’d lost more than his best friend; He’d lost a huge chakra reserve and power (For some reason the healing factor was still there, but no fox or chakra). His was no laughing matter, but against a guy like Ichinorida who made it his mission to suck people’s chakra dry (That’s what he assumed anyway), he was pretty sure he’d lost his only advantage.

At his words, the blond woman looked as if she just ate something rotten, before elaborating; “We may have the proof we were waiting for that he’s here. And it looks like he’s already causing problems” With that, she handed a document to Naruto. He took it, not minding the brothers at his shoulders reading with him.

Pictures of corpses. Naruto winced. He’s always hated seing cadavers like this. About a dozen bodies to be precise. Judging by the pictures and the small descriptions accompanying them, the bodies belonged to women as much as men, even an adolescente had fallen victim. The deaths were all dated from the last few weeks, starting about a day after his arrival and continuing on an average of one victim per day, sometimes two. All of them had few things in common; Their faces frozen in fear, eyes wide open and in a silent scream and the grey complexion that came with death.

The causes of death were also all the same: Heart attack.

He looked up towards Tsunade in a silent question.

Mouth in a thin line, Tsunade explained; “It wasn’t written in the report, but it came to my attention that each and everyone of these victims have burn marks on their chests.” She said grimly. “I still have Itachi’s report on how Sasuke and he found you. You appeared to have the same burns. The only exception: You’re alive, and they are not.” She finishes, her gaze intense on him. 

“Why didn’t you tell us a soon as it started happening?” Sasuke interjected. “Maybe we could’ve stopped some of these murders. Even gotten Naruto to look for the guy earlier!” He said, a bit frustrated. It was part of his job to prevent situations like these from ever happening. He was used to being one step ahead with terrorists and gangs.

“Because murders, especially of civilians, are usually the polices job before it goes further up in the government.” Tsunade said, a bit angry herself. “I just got these reports on my desk this morning, because the other departments didn’t know what to make of it. The police think its all a simple coincidence, that or maybe something the victims ate that caused an allergic reaction and a heart attack (Cue Itachi and Sasuke rolling their eyes) . But higher ups think something else is going on. Now its in our hands.” The busty woman said, hands clasps together on her desk.

“How are they handling the crowd?” Itachi asked, still looking at the report, already trying to find more similarities.

“It’s all hush-hush for the moment. They’re keeping a tight lid on it. The families were told some of the truth; Heart attack. They wont go further than that if they think there was no foul play.” The woman answered. “Itachi I want you, Sasuke and Naruto on the case. But lets not elaborate on the mission too much to the others. You’ll be in charge of locating the places where the murders happened. See if there’s a link. Abandoned buildings, hideouts, I dont give a fuck. Just find me something. Sasuke and Naruto,” She gestured to the two of them. ”I want you guys to go see the bodies at the morgue. I want to make sure its really our guy and not a sudden sprout of heart diseased people. If someone asks why Naruto is tagging along, just tell them I want to see how he behaves on the field.“ With that, Tsunade started riffling through her desk, seeming to be looking for something. Opening a drawer, she didn’t seem to have any luck with it either. Giving up, she pressed a button on her desk.

Not even a minute later, the office door opened to Shizune after a soft nock.

“Shizune, where’s that damn phone I asked you to get for me?” Tsunade asked the younger woman.

Shizune went to the desk and took out from under one of the piles of papers a rectangular device like Sasuke’s. Tsunade grumbled about too much work before throwing it in Naruto’s direction.

Catching the device with one hand he looked at her questionably, turning the thing around curiously.

“It’s a phone. You already have a few contacts in there. Sasuke will show you how it works. We need to be able to contact you, we don’t have bird messaging here.” She said sarcastically.

“How did you know we used birds for messages?” Naruto asked, astonished.

She just looked at him incredulously.

“Just get out of my office before I loose my damn mind!” She said loudly, pointing at the door.

Naruto went to grab his mask, putting it back in the safety of his bag. The three of them hurried out the door, ready to move. Leaving behind Shizune and Tsunade at her desk.

“He reminds me of my little brother” He heard Tsunade murmur to Shizune, before the door closed behind him. 

She sounded sad.

———————————————-

Going to the morgue with Sasuke was a novel experience. On one side, he felt a bit bad, having abandoned Sakura at work for the day, on the other, it allowed him to see even more of the huge city (Sakura told him not to worry about it, that it was part of the job, and C.A.F.E. always came first before well, coffee. But still!).

Sasuke told him in no uncertain words that the morgue was too far away to walk, and since he couldn’t do his thing and run on buildings, they had to choose a transport. Naruto grumbled about lazy people and huge damn cities before finally choosing what he though was the less cramped option; The subway (He was wrong).

Sasuke had told him about the underground transport, that also did half the city in the open air and Naruto was fascinated with the huge thing. It looked like a train (He didn’t have overly fond memories of trains*) but underground! It was the concept he was the most familiar with.

Anyways, they took the train. Sasuke regretted some life decisions because it was cramped as hell and he hated people in general. Naruto heard him complain a few times about sweaty armpits and smells. He had to endure an irritated Sasuke for the duration of their trip.

Arriving at the morgue, Sasuke flashed his badge at the professionals working there, before being led to the victims.

Walking in the freezing storage room, Sasuke asked to see some of the most recent bodies. Naruto winced a bit at the antiseptic smell and the gloomy atmosphere. He may have seen and killed his fair share of humans, but that didn’t mean he appreciated cadavers and murder.

Opening up some of the lockers containing the cold bodies, they slid out as few and opened the bags to be able to see their chests.

Sasuke appeared unperturbed by the bodies as he slid some medical gloves on his hands. His face indifferent as he checked their nails and touched their chests with practiced ease. Naruto envied some of that cool attitude. He couldn’t even look at their faces. These people were alive not too long ago, probably had families and lives that they left behind. They were only innocent bystanders, not some hardened criminals who knew what they were in for.

Naruto was used to fight, well, fighters! Ninjas all knew their job would be difficult and full of danger from the beginning. Nothing was sugar coated to make it otherwise. Not coming back from a mission was an everyday fear that every single one of them knew and accepted (Even if they never got used to it, they just learned to live with it). It wasn’t for nothing that it was rare to see retired shinobis.

You either died or you didn’t.

“Oi Naruto, quit daydreaming and come see this.” Sasuke said from one of the tables.

Naruto gulped and went towards Sasuke, raising an eyebrow in silent question at the other man.

“It’s the same thing that you had when I found you. But apart from that, nothing. No skin under the nails, no signs of fighting and no broken bones. Any ideas? Do your ninja Mojo.” Sasuke said, disgusted that he couldn’t find more. He had the reports from the medical examiners in hand, reading through it.

“Ninja mojo? Really bastard?” Naruto said, annoyed.

Sasuke kept reading, ignoring Naruto for the moment. After everything he’d seen in the last few weeks, Ninjas were more equal to magic and other impossible things than fighters in his opinion right now. And the blond would be hard pressed to prove him otherwise.

 _History Chanel had it all wrong apparently_. He snorted internally.

Naruto walked closer to the body of the man on the table, having no idea what to do or where to start. No matter what Sasuke thought, he didn’t have any ninja mojo to help him here.

Something clearly wasn’t right. He felt it in his bones and in his guts (Hopefully it wasn’t his breakfast wanting to say hello). The body felt.... empty. Seeing the angry burns, turned black in some places and yellowish in others Naruto touched his own chest on reflex, wondering if he would be the one on the cold examining table today instead of this man had the jutsu worked like it should have. Clearly only the Kyuubi had stopped the attack from being fatal on him. And now, he was sent through time with Ichinorida because of that. The hand on his chest tightened its hold.

Sasuke didn’t miss the move, and slightly hit Naruto on the head with the small stack of papers.

“Don’t think too hard about it, you’ll fry that small brain of yours” He tried to joke. Honestly, he was kinda glad the blonde was alive and on their side. He hated the thought of having absolutely no idea what do do with a super human murder from an other timeline wrecking havoc here. At least with Naruto they knew what they were facing and stood a chance. That and the blond wasn’t completely useless... It was the only reason he was glad. Really.

“Ha ha. Funny.” Naruto said, glaring at the dark haired man. He unclenched the hand at his chest, getting back to observing the bodies before him. He had to find something. Anything to help or to prevent this from happening again.

He came up empty. Closing his eyes in frustration, he tried to think of something else to do. This was their only lead. He was pretty sure It was their guy, but not a hundred percent sure. And they still didn’t know how or where to find him. He hoped Itachi was having better luck than them.

He felt Sasuke pace silently behind him, followed by the rustling of papers as he kept reading.

He felt the people just outside the door, bustling about their daily lives.

He felt the presence of the other unlucky cadavers in their cold lockers.

He felt.

He felt! Holy Shit!

“They all feel empty! Holy shit Sasuke! Its our guy for sure!” Naruto exclaimed.

“What are you talking about dobe?” Sasuke said, a sceptical look on his face.

“I can’t explain it very well, but when training with Ero Sennin I learned to harvest energy right? To be able to do the sage mode, I had to learn how to tap into the natural energy of the world and blend it with my chakra! I kept almost turning into a toad at the beginning but that’s not my point!” The blond exclaimed.

By then Sasuke had stopped trying to understand even half of what Naruto was spouting (About perverts, toads and sages??) but the blond continued none the less; “Even in death, your body emanates energy. Inanimate objects, plants, basically everything emits an energy or aura, whatever the fuck you wanna call it! Don’t ask me to explain why, I kinda regret not listening now.” He continued, hands pulling at his hair. He was walking in circles in the room.

“So... you’re saying the victims of our guy don’t emit this energy but the other bodies do? Is that it?” Sasuke said, trying to follow the direction of thinking. “What does that prove exactly?” he asked.

“My partner and I, we were pretty certain Ichinorida had a bloodline limit. Its like a speciality he can do and no one else can. But it was un-identified right?” Naruto said, now talking more to himself than Sasuke. “While we were fighting him, we noticed that he could absorb chakra! And that’s what he tried with me. To be able to do his Jutsu, he needed chakra! Big amounts!” Naruto said. “Its probably what happened to kyuubi. And why I’m still alive! He didn’t take mine completely, he took the foxes! Oh my god!” Naruto continued, now dead to the world.

“Naruto! Calm down you’re not making any sense.” Sasuke said, trying to follow the blond around.

“You don’t understand! Sasuke. Since you people don’t seem to have any chakra, the guy is taking that life energy, this aura! I think he’s trying to recreate his jutsu again!” Naruto said, stopping his race around the room. Sasuke almost hit his back trying to get to him. “And people are the biggest source of energy!”

A sudden memory hit to him.

_“Now, I can finally go back” Ichinorida said with a laugh, white light around him becoming blinding._

“He wanted to go back. Not forward” Naruto realized. “He’s not where- I mean _when_ he wants to be. Somehow, he made a mistake in the Jutsu, and now the two of us are stuck in the wrong time.” He finished in a breath. Somehow, he was sure Kyuubi played a role in that.

Sasuke was looking at his friend, yes, his friend, with a serious expression, mouth forming a thin line at the new information. If what the blond was saying proved to be true, and he had no more doubts about the blond, then they were going to find way more cadavers until they could find the man.

“We have to report our findings.” Sasuke said, getting his gloves off and taking a copy of the reports from the morgue with him.

“And this time, we’re taking a cab.” He said eyeing Naruto.”I’m not taking the subway again.”

Naruto winced a bit, but the urgency of the situation took precedent on his own comfort. Nodding slowly, they made their way out of the morgue.

————————————-

The Taxi was one of the worse experiences Naruto ever lived, and that was saying something. He thought he was about to die about a dozen times. He even ended up breaking the handle near the back window, he’d been clutching it to tightly. Sasuke had to throw some cash at the guy to make him leave them alone once at the C.A.F.E.

He definitely hated cars.

He wouldn’t take anymore, not if he could help it. Life and death situation be damned.

Upon arriving at the office, they went to look for Itachi at his own desk to see if he found anymore clues for them, but there was none.

Together they compiled what they knew. By then, it was already the end of the day and nothing else could be done. They decided to go back to the appartement and come back early the next morning to try and see what the next move would be.

While Sasuke took his bike and Itachi his car, Naruto practically ran all the way back to the apartment, excited beyond belief to finally have something to work on and a definite proof that Ichinorida had arrived with him here, in New-York.

While they ate some leftovers, they talked a bit more about what they would do if they ever came face to face with the guy- Run, call Naruto, let him try and handle it- Sasuke and Itachi glared at him at that- and also a bit more about the sage mode he’d discussed with Sasuke.

When they were all done eating, Naruto ran into his room and towards his pouch on the bed. He’d gotten some ideas on his run towards the apartment, he felt an incredible boost in his energy after today. The fiasco with the burning building from this morning all but forgotten.

Getting his scroll out of the bag, he opened it with a bit of blood. Opening it completely to get some blank paper after his mission briefing, he started to draw a simple storage seal into it.

Noticing Itachi at his door but not really caring, he continued to etch his seal. Tongue sticking out in his concentration.

When done, he took all his shurinkens, kunais, his scrolls and other ninja stuff and put them all into the seal.

After that, he took his brand new mask and started drawing a simple henge seal into the mask. It would be way easier if he didn’t have to do it each time he had to save someone. It could be time sensitive. That way, as soon as the mask would be on his face, the henge would come to life and change his appearance.Red hair, little bit taller and he added red eyes just to look cool. He also put the mask into the storage seal.

If no one could open it, no one would be able to find out who he was.

Satisfied with his work, he finally deigned to look at Itachi, Sasuke having also joined him in observing the blond from the door.

Itachi was the first to break the silence.

“We noticed that you were quite attached to that orange jumper you lost when we found you.” He said. Them noticing wasquite an understatement, when he’d gone shopping with Sasuke, all he wanted to buy were orange things. Sasuke didn’t let him. 

It was one of the rare gifts he’d received as a kid, it had been precious to him. But he understood that it couldn’t be saved after that last battle with Ichinorida. Still, he’d been pretty devastated at the loss.

Nodding towards the brothers, he got curious as to what this was about.

It was Sasuke that took out something from behind his back, something- Orange!

“Its not the same as your last monstrosity, but we had it made for you. We had a feeling you wouldn’t sit still, so it’s made of pretty solid material. It should protect you a bit when you get yourself in trouble.” He said.

Mouth wide, Naruto wordlessly took the new jumper from Sasuke’s hands. It was thick, but light as a feather. Wordlessly putting it on, he noticed that the fit was better than the his last jumper. Closer to his body, less loose, more stylish. The material was easy to move in. It was also shorter than the older one, barely arriving at the limit of his pants. It also had a cool hood on it. The whole thing was mainly orange, but with white and black stripes on it too. 

Speechless, Naruto felt a faint prickling in his eyes. These people he’d met not so long ago had done and offered him more in a month than the village in a lifetime. He somehow wished they’d lived in his time. Things could have been so much different.

Surprising Itachi and Sasuke, Naruto proceeded to bring the two brothers in a bear hug.

“Thank you” He said, the sound muffled by his face in Itachi’s chest.

He looked at his Konoha headband still on his nightstand.

Maybe things were finally looking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *That first movie I think where they are in the land of snow and Naruto runs from a train to rescue the princess. Its the only instance I remember with a train :)
> 
> I googled cadaver injuries to see what they looked like after death and I regret everything.
> 
> Next Chapter, some kakashi Naruto time! Finally :)


	11. Flower bud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi finally gets to learn something from the blond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some fanarts of the fic you can find on my profile :) I made a few more but dont want to give any spoilers, so I’m waiting to post them later. 
> 
> Still un-betaed :)
> 
> Finally some kakashi Naruto time! 

Chap 11. Flower bud

It was the beginning of November, a month after his faithful arrival into the weird future that was New-York city. It started snowing a bit and the streets were painted a beautiful white most nights.

It was a mesmerizing sight.

After that huge breakthrough at the morgue with Sasuke, nothing more followed. To Naruto’s immense frustration, since that day, they never got any closer to finding Ichinorida. The bodies however were still pilling up as the days passed. Soon the city would have problems explaining the string of deaths by ‘heart attack’. Someone somewhere was bound to ask too many questions, and it would get out to the public.

Naruto took to patrolling some nights in his new disguise. It cleared his mind when he needed it and made him feel like he was useful in some way. Trying to sense the foreign chakra, grasping at cold trails. Sitting still was never his fort. He even went to visit the site where Sasuke had found him. He only found the charred ground left by not one, but two bolts of lighting.He wore his orange jacket with pride, his henge and his fox mask to hide his identity while patrolling.

As he was growing restless, he scoured the streets looking for his target.Most nights he couldn’t find a single helpful hint to the horned man’s whereabouts. He ended up saving a few more people, stumbling upon problems by cheer luck most of the time. The name Kyuubi was starting to be known throughout the city; some considering him a nuisance and vigilante, some others calling him a hero. Naruto didn’t really want to be either of those things. He simply wanted to make things right. And if on his way he met some people needing his help, then he would do his damn best to help.

Calling himself the Kyuubi had been somewhat of a strategic error in his mind. He’d said the name in panic to that girl, but now, each time someone called out to him through that name, he kept expecting his furry friend to show up. It was hard to remember that absolutely no one in this time knew the fox. Even if the thought of scaring absolutely no one with the simple name was refreshing. It felt like starting on a clean slate, clearing the name for something good with his actions, instead of just the memory of a massacre.

Sasuke showed him some articles in the morning newspaper bearing blurry pictures of him. He also showed Naruto what the internet was through his phone so he could follow the news a bit better. It was all still pretty complicated to Naruto, but the idea that he could research the entire worlds knowledge with his phone was mind blowing to him. All the knowledge in the palm of his hand. It was crazy!

Sakura had taken to showing him funny videos of dogs and cats while on break, aghast that he’d never had a phone before.Didn’t even think it was humanly possible really (She mentioned he was somewhat of a caveman with technology, she’d noticed, but not to that extent!). She then promptly added her number in his phone, in case he needed some more explaining or just to see each other outside of work.

He now had 4 numbers registered in his phone;

-Big brother (Itachi had snorted at that, something about a book*)

-Bastard (Sasuke had just rolled his eyes, used to the name by now)

-Sakura

-Old Hag

For some reason, the growing number of people in his phone made his heart beat faster in his ribcage.

He also started going everywhere with his little travel bag. Since his scroll was inside, he determined that it would be easier for him in case he had to disguise himself and act fast (He always kept everything Kyuubi related in his storage seal in the scroll. Like that, no one but him would be able to open it, leaving his secret identify just that, a secret.).

And come in handy it did.

He’d hear about some incident or another in the city through the cafe radio, sometimes through Sakura getting the news on her phone and other times while walking towards the job like that first morning with the fire. He’d then go into a deserted alley, or have an excuse to go to the back store (The real one) and escape through the backdoor while leaving a clone in his stead. Since the clone was evidently him, no one ever noticed something amiss in the office. He’d return later, job done, and dismiss his clone and takeover the work from his memories. It was perfect.

Today had been a slow day. He’d started his morning in the office, translating some boring work for Tsunade. He briefly encountered Sasuke has he continued to oversee the Ichinorida case along with Itachi. (Having to go back and forth from the morgue and confirm the bodies had died the same way, trying to find new clues, always coming back empty handed.). He brought back the paperwork each time, hopping to find a common ground between the numerous victims, to help pinpoint his next move but to no avail. Itachi kept a close eye on sightings and the city cameras. Hoping to catch the other ninja in the act, even watching out for strange movements (Jutsus, walking on walls, he didn’t even eliminate the possibility of flying from his list at that point). Tsunade had told Naruto that there was no need for three agents at a time each time a body showed up. He would be more useful in the office in case they found something, blah blah blah.

When sasuke had told Naruto exactly the same thing upon hearing his protest, the blond finally relented and left them to work.

He was itching to do something, and most of the time it was something rash. That’s why he’d started patrolling the streets at night. It calmed him a bit somehow. With the window in his room, it was easy to get out and come back discreetly without having to use the front door of the building.

Taking turns, Itachi and Sasuke had taken upon themselves to wait for him to come back to the apartment after each outing while pretending to be asleep (He could sense them each time he came back, that they were in their rooms and awake.). Naruto tried to tell them once that it wasn’t necessary, that he could take care of himself just fine, but it was impossible to convince the brothers. Sasuke had glared at him so ferociously, Naruto had no choice but to accept it. Itachi had simply given him his cellphone (He never brought it with him on his nightly outings, still not used to carrying it around) and told him in no uncertain terms that there would be hell to pay if he didn’t bring it with him from now on.

The blond was kinda glad the Uchiha brothers were not ninjas. He would have gotten some serious competition for power, of that he was sure. They could be quite scary when they wanted to be. And he had a 9 tailed fox demon in him for all his life.

After diner break, he went up and offered his help to Sakura at the coffee shop. Having finished all his work for the day, he didn’t want to go back to the empty apartment yet. He liked working in the cozy little coffee shop.

Contrary to what people would believe, he really loved the fact that he could meet new people everyday. It was also what he loved about being a shinobi. The missions for sure yes, but also the travelling, meeting new people and learning about new things.

He spent the rest of the day trying (Miserably failing) to make good coffee, and serve the customers. Sakura and he talked about everything and nothing, her questions easy and never probing. After the few weeks they’ve known each other, Sakura was the easiest person to talk to, he found.

She was far from stupid, Naruto noticed. She could easily read the mood when he wasn’t comfortable talking and steered the subject to something easier to chat about. She understood the secrets, saying they all had their fair share of reasons to be in the business they were in. She wasn’t shy when she disliked something or when she didn’t share the same opinion. The blond appreciated that about her. Her honesty.

She talked about Lee, (From that first meeting, he’d noticed the attraction between the two, it was ridiculously cute), and told Naruto stories about some of the missions she went on with Sasuke and Itachi. Naruto in turn told her about his everyday life with the two brothers, sharing juicy details about their habits (Naruto had taken upon himself to be besides Itachi in the morning when the two bickered about Sasuke’s duck butt hair. It was hilarious.).

Kakashi kept coming when he could to the office/cafe during Naruto’s working hours, trying to pry personal information from him each time. It quickly became a friendly game between the two. The blond enjoyed spending time with the grey haired man more than he liked to admit.

He felt as if he was part of one big family.

Its not that he didn’t want to be a part of it. It just hurt whenever he thought about it.

Those were all people he was going to be leaving behind once the mission was over.

He also felt guilty at the idea of having fun while Ichinorida was still out there, killing innocent people.

Shaking his head, Naruto looked around the almost empty coffee shop in search of a grey mop of hair and finding none.

Today the man was absent, apparently on a mission. Naruto had briefly seen a flash of him leaving Tsunades office this morning .

“Hey Sakura! Do you know what kind of mission Kakashi was sent on today?” Naruto said, while cleaning the counter during a quiet time.

“Sorry Naruto, most of our missions are classified, so I wouldn’t know” She answered apologetically from a few steps besides him. She was refilling the muffins rack. “I’m sure he’s fine, so I wouldn’t worry about him.” She teased.

“Wha- I wasn’t worried! What gave you that idea!” Naruto said, cheeks red for whatever reason. He was just being curious, nothing to it!

“I’ve been trying not to say anything but you guys are flirting all the time.” She said, closing the cabinet where the muffins were to lean on the counter and watch him.

“What? There is no flirting involved, there was literally no flirting ever in any of our interactions!” The blond said, still red in the face. This woman was crazy! “He’s just trying to interrogate me every chance he gets!” He continued, as if to prove his point.

“Oh please!” The pink haired girl replied, laughing a little. “You’re the only one he watches when you’re here. And he’s never taken the time to know any of us. You two bicker like an old married couple. You men are hopeless.” She crossed her arms. “And you, mister, you hang on to every word he says!”

“He’s interesting! That doesn’t mean anything!” The ninja protested. Having stopped his cleaning of the counter to look at the pink medic. “I bicker with Sasuke all the damn time! Doesn’t mean I find the bastard attractive!”

“True” Sakura said, eyeing him. “I could be wrong, but the deal is, I dont think I am.” The pink haired girl shrugged.

“Still, I wouldn’t worry about kakashi, he can handle himself just fine.” She finished. With that, she headed to the back of the store to get more pastries.

Naruto looked a her go for a few moments, absolutely baffled by the conversation. Kakashi and him? Flirting? He never flirted in his life! He wasn’t about to start now!

The man was handsome, sure. Naruto would have to be blind not to see that. Even with most of his face covered up, it was easy to see the man was in shape and had a nice jaw bone structure.

The same could be said for the Uchiha brothers. Sakura was just acting crazy. Even then, it was impossible for the silver haired man to even find Naruto attractive. He just couldn’t see it.

Naruto grumbled and went back to his work, deciding that the conversation wasn’t even worth more thinking on his part.

———————-

It was the end of the day, the outside already dark with the night sky. It was a shock the first time he walked during the night in the city. So many lights lined the streets, the Times Square shined almost like day time. If he found the city beautiful during the day, well, at night, it was breathtaking.

Everyone had already gone home. The main floor to the coffee shop was peaceful and quiet.

Naruto was sweeping the floors of the now closed Coffee shop. He didn’t feel like returning at the apartment yet, so he’d volunteered to close the shop instead of Sakura. She was hesitant at first, but he’d reasoned with her that he’d seen her do it enough times and it wasn’t the first. She confessed to Naruto that she hadn’t had an early night in ages, so he wanted her to go home a bit early for once.

Humming one of those songs he heard on the radio while he swept, he didn’t notice at first the shadow coming closer to the shops closed door. Hearing the soft noise of someone trying to enter the cafe, he just yelled over his back that the shop was closed before going back to his business. Hearing the same sound again, Naruto felt a bit irritated at the persistance of the person.

He turned around, intending to tell the person off- when he saw a shock of grey hair through the window.

Kakashi was leaning heavily against the door, trying clumsily to get it open with his keys. He didn’t look like he was very successful in his attempts. Naruto went to open it for him, surprised to see the man so late at night.

“Hey Kakashi!” He said, opening the door. “You forgot some-“ His question was cut off, as the heavy body of the grey haired man fell towards him. Only by cheer force of habit did he manage to catch the man before he hit the floor, barely feeling the weight as it settled against him.The keys Kakashi had in hand fell to the floor, along with the broom Naruto had in hand, making a loud clang in the silent coffee shop. Now more than a little worried, Naruto hooked his arms around the bigger waist to try and see his face. A tired but open eye was looking at him in vague surprise.

“I apologize Naruto. I didn’t think anyone would still be here.” The grey haired man finally said. Eye grimacing a bit as if in pain. One of his arms was grasping at his waist, a little lower than Naruto’s own hand. The blond panicked a bit when he noticed the blood soaked shirt beneath the hand.

“Kakashi! You’re hurt!” He pointed the obvious out. Loosing no time, he took the unused arm over his shoulder, closed the door to the shop again before starting to lead the older man towards the basement. “What are you doing here? You should be in a hospital!” The blond pointed out while they slowly walked, a worried frown on his face. Was it his mission gone wrong? Was this Ichinoridas doing?

“It looks worse than it is, really.” Kakashi said. “I was just going to bandage it in the infirmary.”

Naruto was not convinced for a second. He sent a flat stare at the older man, who only shrugged in response.

Going down the stairs was a slow process, Naruto debating at least a million times on wether or not just carrying the man bridal style was a good idea. He didn’t think it would do his ‘disguise’ any good. Still, how many bloody stairs were there ?!

They finally arrived at their destination. Naruto kicked the door open, and they let themselves into the small infirmary. kakashi sat himself slowly on the elevated bed, looking more tired and worn than Naruto had even seen of him in the little month they’dknown each other.

He hesitated.

“Maybe I should call Sakura, she’d be the best to deal with thi-“ He reached for his phone in his pant pocket.

“No!” The grey haired man cut of. “Please. Just.... Don’t bother her for this. I can take it from here. You can go home if you want Naruto. You already helped a great deal” He continued, a small smile through his face cloth directed at him.

It looked forced.

“Yeah. No way am I leaving you alone like this old man.” Naruto said,glaring softly at him. He silently dared kakashi to try and force him to go away. He put his phone down on a nearby counter and started rifling through the drawers and cabinets for bandages and disinfectant.

kakashi visibly knew a loosing battle when he saw one and just heaved a sigh. His single eye twitched.

“Did you just call me old?” The man said. Naruto could’ve sworn he heard a whine in the voice. “I’m hurt!” He said with fake emotion, bringing a hand to his heart. The mouvement caused him to wince.

“Yup. Tough shit. And stop moving around so much! You’ll make it worse!” The blond complained. He’d found the bandages and was still looking for the disinfectant. He’d also found some needles and thread, but he wasn’t even sure what kind of wound kakashi had. Stupid of him.

“Strip please! And what happened anyway? I thought it would be an easy mission.” Naruto mumbled. He never liked it when his friends or the people he considered family got hurt. Be it in his home village or here. Seeing the man visibly in pain and trying to hide it made him grumpy. 

“Maa Naruto, if you wanted to see me naked so badly, you just had to ask.” Kakashi said, evading the question. He started unbuttoning his ruined shirt one handed, keeping the other hand on his stinging wound. Noticing the long silence after his little joke, he looked up, wondering if he’d gone to far with the innocent blond.

The blue eyed man was cherry red in the face, looking outraged at the same time as speechless. Kakashi absently thought it was cute. Not many people, women or men his age, had those innocent genuine reactions still in them.

He looked shy-

“I DIDNT MEAN IT LIKE THAT YOU PERVERT!” The blond yelled, still red in the face.

 _Never mind_. kakashi thought with amusement. _No shyness to be found._

“And don’t think I didn’t notice you evading my question! What the hell happened on the mission?” Naruto said, looking straight at Kakashi. He deposited the things he found on the bed besides Kakashi and waited for him to finish taking his shirt off.

Kakashi threw another forced smile towards the man, intent on another joke just to spite the blond.

“And dont do that.” Naruto said with a grimace.

Surprised, Kakashi checked himself. “Do what?” He asked.

“That fake-ass smile you keep doing. You don’t need to smile if you dont want to.” The younger man answered.

It was Kakashi’s turn now to be shocked into silence.

Shirt finally off, Naruto took a good look at the wound. Cleaning the blood to see clearer, the blond brought his hand to the wound to observe it. It looked like a small stab wound from something sharp but not large. Would require a few stitches but kakashi was right, it wasn’t life threatening at least. The stab wound was just between too floating ribs. Heaving a sight of relief that it wasn’t worse, he started preparing the antiseptic wipes and the thread. He gave some pills for the pain to the other man who gratefully took them dry.

“Never bring a pocket knife to a gun fight” Kakashi said suddenly.

“What?” Naruto blinks up at him, not understanding.

“I think that’s how the saying goes, but I don’t think it was intended that way.” Kakashi says, leaning back a bit to make space for the blond. “It’s what happened. Someone was waiting for me and it took me by surprise.” The grey haired man continued. “People rarely take me by surprise these days.” The grey haired man looked bone tired, his form slouching more than usual. Now that the fake smile was gone, the blond could see the lines around the older man’s one visible eye. His shoulders heavy with what seemed like the weight of the world. 

Not knowing what to say except platitudes, Naruto just continued his work. It could happen to anyone, didn’t make it less frustrating. He knew a fair bit about that.Although now that he knew the reason behind the stab wound, he was pretty happy it had nothing to do with his enemy.

“Have you ever taken a life Naruto?” The hurt man asked, breaking the comfortable silence again.

“Yeah, f’course.” Naruto replied absently, trying to get the damn thread through the needle head. Making a Ha-ha! Sound in victory, Naruto looked up to Kakashi to find him looking at the blond with one wide eye and a raised eyebrow.

When his brain registered just what the question was and what he answered, the younger man stammered and tried to backtrack. He was an idiot!

“Wh-What I meant was- I have these.... plants, yeah plants! Killed every last one of them heheh.” He said lamely while scratching his head. He was the worse at lying and excuses oh my god.

He heard a small chuckle, and immediately turned back his head toward the source. Kakashi was clenching his side a bit, as if to stop himself from full out laughing. He moved a hand towards his face, stopping as if debating the idea, before removing his eyepatch from his head, leaving his second eye in full view. He ruffled his grey hair with the same hand, intending to get himself comfortable now, before looking back at the blond in his eyes.

The man was way more handsome when smiling, Naruto had to admit, it changed his whole demeanour. And his eye, both his eyes, well, they were fathomless. There was one deep scar running across his once hidden eye, but it did nothing to diminish the depth of them. Scars were signs you survived for Naruto. It was normal, even looked up too sometimes in his village. The blinding light of the infirmary did nothing to lessen the impact of the man in front of him.

Seeing the blond with the awestruck look in his eyes brought another small chuckle out of Kakashi. He didn’t understand how fast the blond had so effortlessly brought him back from his doom and gloom mood, but he was glad.

“It’s the first time I actually learn something about you, and its about killing.” The agent said, both eyes curving upwards. “What does that make us?” He said with humour.

Knowing he’d lost this round to Kakashi, but not willing to divulge more, the blond simply chuckled along with the man and started his sewing. “It’s going to sting!” He warns.

Expertly going through the motions, Naruto asked the question burning through his tongue ever since Sakura told him about it. “So, what’s up with the eyepatch if you can see from both eyes? Is it to hide the scar ?”

When only silence answered his query, Naruto wasn’t really surprised, so he continued his work.

“There was a mission.” The grey haired man said softly after a few minutes of wincing. Not wanting to break the stride, Naruto stayed silent but nodded to show he was listening.

“I was cocky. Just fresh out of training and the best recruit they had that year.” His eyes had turned upwards, as if stuck in the memory.

“The mission went to hell pretty quickly. We were in Iran, middle of enemy territory, no backup. I lost my eye to a bullet that grazed my head.” He continued slowly.

The blonds heart was beating heavily in his chest. This was the first time the grey haired man shared anything even remotely personal with him. Somehow, Naruto new that Kakashi didn’t open up to just anyone.

“I made the mission a priority, instead of my teammates lives.” Kakashi didn’t remember closing his eyes, but when he felt a hand on his knee, he opened them to look down at the blond. Naruto was looking at him with such sincerity and worry. Having stopped his work momentarily. It should be impossible in todays time for someone like him, who apparently also had blood on his hands- to be so...pure in his emotions. And to worry about him of all people. Kakashi had never even talked about that mission since. The memory reserved for him and him only, to make his heart suffer alone just like he deserved. But... sharing it with the blond was, not easy, never easy but- perhaps like sharing his burden with someone who could take it. Who wouldn’t give platitudes and apologies he never wanted.

Realizing he’d stopped the story short, he continued; “That day I lost my best friend, failed my mission and lost my eye.”

The blond furrowed his eyebrows, wondering how the hell the man had lost an eye and still had his two right there. Kakashi chuckled (He did that a lot around the blond.).

“He gave it to me. My friend who died. The surgery wasn’t easy but they saved it.” He pointed at it, as if Naruto could mistake which eye it was with the huge ass scar.

“That... doesn’t really explain why you hide it thought.” The blue eyed man said. Resuming the last stitch he needed to make.

“I don’t deserve to see the world with that eye. So I only use it on missions.” The older man said, shrugging his shoulders. Simple and right to the point. He was used to people not understanding his point of view or just agreeing with him. This would be no diff-

“That’s bullshit!” Naruto exclaimed, cutting through the thread with scissors at the same time as cutting through kakashi’s expectations. Having finished sewing the wound shut, he dabbed at the wound one last time with antiseptic before leaning back to admire his work. Not bad! “Your friend gave you that eye! The least you can do is see the world with it!” Getting all the bloody tissues and used needle, he threw them in the garbage.

Kakashi wondered if he’d ever stop being amazed by this person. He hoped not. “I... didn’t see it that way.” He just answered, short for words. Again.

He took the time to look at the blonds work on his chest, satisfied that it didn’t hurt as much as earlier and it was shut. The pills were certainly helping. “Thank you for helping me. Where did you learn to stitch people up?” He asked as he picked up his ruined shirt. At least he had an spare one at his desk somewhere. Alway expect the unexpected.

“I kinda got hurt a lot. Even as a kid. I was always looking for trouble. I had to learn.” The blond said, while washing his hands in the sink. It was true. He completely sucked at healing jutsus, so had to make-do with what he had. Never had the concentration or skills for it. Kyuubi would sometimes prevent him from healing fast so he could learn a lesson (About taking stupid risks or something.). Or when the fox hated him also as a kid, still bitter over being sealed in an infants body. With the adults hating him, Naruto had but himself to turn towards to when he got badly hurt during a mission. He learned through time and trials.

“Can’t really say I’m glad you learned it then.” He said, making the blond laugh.

“Well! I still gotta close up shop. You sure you’re feeling alright now?” The blond asked, looking at kakashi with a critical eye.

“Maa, I’m feeling fresh like a daisy Naruto, thanks to your hands.” The older man replied, taking pleasure in teasing the younger man again.

Not even deigning to reply this time, Naruto just blushed like a tomato and muttered about a bag upstairs he was getting before walking out of the room. Kakashi looked at the man go, feeling lighter than he had in years and, dare he say it; Happy, even after today’s disastrous mission.

The two met up at the entrance of the shop, kakashi donning his new shirt and his coat (It wasn’t too bloodied, unlike his shirt.) along with his eyepatch back firmly in place. Naruto had his bag ready and his coat also, taking the time to close the lights before the two of them went outside and finally closed shop. It was snowing softly, the kind that melted as soon as it hit the floor. It was well past midnight and the streets were almost empty of people. Naruto felt tired enough that he would probably not patrol tonight.

He went to bid Kakashi goodbye and to tell him to rest, but when he turned around he found the man just behind him. He jumped.

“My apartment is in the same direction as yours, I’ll walk with you.” The grey haired man said, before the blond could say anything.

Naruto had no idea where the man lived, but somehow he was betting it wasn’t in the same direction as him. Not having enough mental strength or plausible cause to fight the other man on it, he simply walked besides kakashi in silence, making sure to be slow as to not stress the new stitches on the older man.

“Do you miss your home?” kakashi asked conversationally as they walked the lit up streets.

“Um, Yeah, a lot actually.” The blond answered, scratching the back of his head. He thought of old man Sarutobi, Konohamaru, Teuchi at the Ramen stand, Jiraya his teacher... his home, his village that he protected again and again for years. But most of all, his best friend, Kurama, who he hoped was still out there, somewhere.

“Do you have someone special there?” The agent asked. He didn’t know why, but suddenly knowing the answer was ~~vital~~ important. of course someone like that, like breathing sunshine would have someone eagerly waiti-

“Nope! Hehe. They don’t like me very much yet at my village.” The blond said, as if used to the notion. Strange.

“Is that why you left and came here? Better opportunities and less people that know you?” Kakashi couldn’t even fathom a whole village not liking someone. Especially someone as joyous as the blond. Their loose in his opinion.

The shinobi froze, unsure what to say. “You could say that.” He replied nervously.

So, another secret he couldn’t say.Or wouldn’t say. He hadn’t figured that one out yet.

“Strange that you came almost at the same time as this Kyuubi vigilante.” He saw Naruto trip on the sidewalk, almost face-planting on the ground as he said it.

Bingo. First clue.

Naruto righted himself. _Smooth, idiot, real smooth. pretend you don’t know him!_ He screamed inside his head.

“Wha— I mean, Who? Never heard of him.”

“So you think its a him?” Kakashi replied smoothly, the wolf!

Crap crap crap crap.

“Well, I’m just assuming aren’t I?” He laughed nervously. “Yeah okay Sasuke showed me some blurry pictures and stuff. He looks cool enough.” _There Naruto, don’t make it to obvious, don’t look interested, just make conversation. Tell the truth, just not the whole of it._ Sasuke had shown him the pictures, Kakashi would find no lie there.

“Cool? I guess you could say that.” The taller man appeared nonchalant. “He’s become somewhat of a celebrity recently. I have no doubt his file will hit Tsunades desk sooner rather than later.” He said while looking ahead.

“Hum yeah for sure hehe....Oh! We’re here!” Naruto said, relieved like never before at seeing the door to the Uchiha’s apartment building.He made a small dash to the door, followed by kakashi at a slower pace. The older man didn’t appear surprised that he lived with the Uchihas, and while it wasn’t common knowledge, (He’d only just told Sakura about it.) he wasn’t the least bit surprised that Kakashi already knew. 

The goodnight he was about to say again died in his throat when kakashi took one of his hands in both his. His lone eye was watching Naruto seriously. “Naruto, thank you again for helping me tonight. And listening to my spiel. Rest well.” With a squeeze, he dropped the hand and started to walk back in the direction they’d come from (He knew it! The ass.). Naruto simply watched him go, not knowing what to say, his hands going into his coat pocket. He touched his phone. He didn’t even remember getting it back from the infirmary! How did it end up in his coat pocket! Taking it out, the screen was already open. He looked down at it curiously and noticed immediately. He had a fifth number in his phone.

Never one who appreciated to be bested, Naruto went back to the middle of the sidewalk, watching Kakashi’s back get further away. His formed his hands into a O around his mouth before yelling; “Oi kakashi! Saved the number under old man!” He laughed while he said it, happy for some strange reason.

Kakashi didn’t turn back, only waved at him with a hand and continued his walk.

It was only when Naruto got home (Not without telling the brothers that no, he wasn’t out on patrol without telling them.) and in his bed that he realized something. He started blushing red.

“Did I just get walked to my doorstep?! That sneaky bastard!”

Sakura was crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Made me think of the book 1984 with big brother watching you ahaha 
> 
> Pftt Jaw bone structure Naruto? xD
> 
> Its quite funny because I started this chapter I was peacefully at home, and now I finished it from a hospital room. Should be out in a few days, can’t wait!


	12. Ichinorida

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a train. There’s a bad guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot is thickening!   
> This chapter is a unit, had a hard time writing it but I love it.

Chap 12. Ichinorida

The clock on his nightstand beeped into the small room until a hand crashed unto it. A mop of blond hair appeared from under the covers, followed by the sound of a yawn from the tired ninja.

It was now the middle of November, a little more than a week had passed since Naruto’s little heart to heart with Kakashi.

The relationship between the two of them was easier (Not that there was ever any hardships, honestly.). The older man softer on his probing for truth, never stopping but perhaps more relaxed, less suspicious. Cracking jokes and inviting Naruto to eat with him on his breaks whenever the two of them were free.

The more days flew by, the more the blond fell into an easy routine. Living with the brothers, learning more and more each day about this world. Going to work and translating. Occasionally accompanying Sasuke or Itachi on small missions to learn (He was still not considered a full fledged member of the C.A.F.E. Yet.). Helping out Sakura at the coffee shop from time to time and, on one memorable occasion, Kiba (It ended in disaster and Tsunade concluded that he could only work with Sakura from now on.). He ate with Kakashi, went back ~~home~~ to the apartment, then went out again to patrol; He would save a few people as the Kyuubi, go back inside and sleep until morning.

He now knew most of the streets surrounding the Cafe and the apartment by heart. He didn’t get lost as easily and could orient himself in the big city.

It was a routine, but no day was ever boring to him.

Some days he would wake up in the morning and feel lost. Still thinking he was in his small appartment back in Konoha. Still stuck in a dream of konohamaru-ramen-missions-training-training-Jiraya-mission-training. He would wake up disoriented, at first happy it was a dream then immediately ashamed for feeling that way about his home. Guilty. The head band on his nightstand was a constant reminder of that guilt.

Tsunade had told him she could maybe keep the charade for another month and a half, but not more. Heavily implying they had to solve this shit show sooner rather than later and get Naruto back to his time. The more Naruto worked there and got along well with the others, on top of doing his work well, the less people would accept/believe easily that the blond would disappear from that position after 3 months, or that he was not suited for it. People would get suspicious.

He now had 5 numbers registered in his phone. 5 numbers he could call friendly acquaintances.

Right.

Who was he kidding, he had at least 5 people he could call friends here. More so with the others in the office he didn’t know enough yet, like Kiba and Lee, but were all pretty friendly with him. It was more than he could say from his home and he was stricken about it. What kind of person did that make him? To have more friends because he was lying about his life to most of them. To them he was someone else. Someone like them, a part of their world. 

What was he doing? A mission never took so long before. Was he doing enough? Why did he feel like it was his fault every time a new body showed up? Robbed of a life they would’ve gotten, had Naruto not crashed landed here with a wanted criminel.

It wasn’t his type to be so blue in the morning. Or ever really. But something about the whole situation and him being powerless to do anything but wait was just...Frustrating as fuck!

Sasuke noticed his mood that morning as he walked out of his room later than usual and asked if he wanted him to walk with him. Naruto shook his head no, for once. Reassuring the black haired man that he just needed to clear his head a bit before heading to work. Not reassured but respecting his choice, Sasuke told him to call if there was anything, letting Naruto go on ahead and leaving the brothers to take their car and bike later.

Warm in his coat (It was brown and boring, but Sasuke insisted he couldn’t live of of the orange colour alone.) Naruto walked the now familiar streets and tried not to think too much about his predicament. The snow from the beginning of November had mostly melted again, leaving the streets bare and grey.

He made his way towards the big park in front of their apartment, intend on going through it a as a detour before going to work. Apparently it was central. To what, he had no idea. The city maybe?

For him it was small, him being used to the huge forests surrounding his village. Vegetation strong and thick for days on end. He let out a small laugh when imagining these people with a forest of death just besides them. Looking back on it now, with his world view just a big bigger, he did find it a bit strange. How they trained their young to expect to die so soon, even just for an exam. All that to get higher in the ranks. They lived in two different worlds, quite literally. It was normal for them to live and think differently. He wouldn’t have changed anything from his training and his experiences, even if some(A lot) were unpleasant. It made him who he was today. It made him meet Kurama.

Still, it was strange to think about.

Suddenly, it was as if a static shock passed through his brain. He stopped. The air felt heavy and charged. It was a sensation he hadn’t felt since leaving his world behind, but he knew it like breathing. Lifting his head high, he looked around for the immediate source, eyebrows furrowed. He saw none.

Chakra.

It was easy to fall back into old habits. Even easier for him to pinpoint the source of the chakra surge a few hundred meters from him. He was like a starving animal smelling the only prey in the forest. For him, nothing stood in between. His body was on automatic. 

Ichinorida. No doubt in his mind about it.

Not loosing a second more, the blond abandoned his path to follow the chakra trail. Starting in a jog but quickly changing into a run. Evading a few people as he passed them by, he ran towards the source, not caring of the destination as long as his target was there.

He quickly got frustrated with people and buildings in his way and the speed he couldn’t use. As fast as he could, he dodged into an alley to change, only coming back out sporting his orange jacket, his henge and his fox mask. Putting his scroll back in his bag absently, Naruto focused on the familiar chakra again, hoping he hadn’t lost it.

There!

It was moving fast. 

Now able to do as he pleased from under the mask, Naruto took the nearest wall and ran up the side of the building towards the roof, not even paying attention to the few gasps coming from the street under. From the roof he ran full speed, jumping over buildings in pursuit of his goal, small clouds of persistant snow exploding behind him from the roof in his haste.

 _You’re not getting away this time!_ the blond thought as he flew from building to building, gritting his teeth. The bull guy was fast.

What felt like hours of chasing a trail through the city were but minutes. The rush of the chase pumping adrenaline in his system.

He arrived at what looked like a train station, the train already awaiting on the platform. He was in what looked like a residential area, the smaller buildings surrounding the station.

The feeling had stopped here.

He didn’t know this part or town, having never really ventured that far yet.

He landed on the platform and looked around. At least the rush of the morning was mostly over, so not too many people were around when he landed. He ignored the weird looks and the stares he was getting by people who started recognizing the disguised man with a mask.He had a criminal to find.

He continued to look around, frustrated.

Naruto was unable to locate the chakra’s source. It didn’t make any sense! A man that size was hard to miss. People would be screaming at the sight of his horns alone! He kept turning his head from side to side, behind, in front, behind again, getting frustrated that he couldn’t see his target. No one dared approach him, seeing the nervous man in action.

Suddenly, he saw something from the corner of his eyes. White hair disappearing into the train. There!

He heard the alarm of the train go off, a warning for the closing doors and made a split decision. He dashed to the closest opening and managed to slip past the closing mechanical doors.

Inside the now moving train, Naruto looked around himself. There were about a dozen civilians looking at him in various states of shock and even fear. Some still not trusting him to be on the good side. He didn’t blame them exactly. Suddenly having a masked somebody arrive/appear in your city to fight “bad” guys without knowing their motive... it would put anyone on edge.

No matter. Ichinorida was visibly not in this passenger car. He couldn’t afford to lose the guy, not now. Determined, Naruto jogged to the end of the car before forcefully opening the locked door separating him the next passenger car. He walked on the drawbar in between, and tried the next door; he found it unlocked. Stepping into the next car, he noted that this one had way more passengers then the last. Not too many noticed him at first, so he elbowed he way to the middle while looking around.

He felt a breeze at his back, and shivered as the air became oppressive.

“Looking for me little fox?” The sinister voice at his back said.

The blond turned fast while taking a few steps back, trying to put distance between himself and the vilain. When he turned to finally look at the man, he was taken aback.

Gone were the white kimono and Haori jacket. Gone were the blood red pants, even the white hair had turned a dull black.

In front of him stood a tall man, but not as monstrously tall as Ichinorida had been. He was still a mass of muscles, but he had no horns and wore normal clothing. He would have looked completely normal, had it not been for the manic look in his also black eyes and the mouth placed in a sneer. Naruto also noticed the necklace- the red spheres with moving mist in them. It was still there, interesting.

The chakra he sensed earlier was clearly coming from the bulky guy. Although in front of him stood a different man. Naruto could not sense any henge on him. What the hell was going on? He could recognize that crocked nose anywhere, he was sure it was him! So what the hell had happened?!

“What the hell...?” The blond exclaimed. He positioned himself to fight.

The other man laughed at him. “Do you really want to fight me with all these miserable people around us? Innocent ci-vi-li-an lives? ” The man said, his disgusting voice stopping at each syllable.

The ninja looked around himself in distress. The bastard was right. People around them were looking at them weirdly now and making annoyed faces. But no one was fleeing. They couldn’t even if they wanted. There was no space to fight at all without injuring or worse- killing anyone. He wondered why no one was afraid after hearing the guy talk.

He had to stall for time. Wait for the next stop and drag the man out if he had too. This had gone on long enough!

“Why are you doing all this?” Naruto said, his rage boiling just under the surface and waiting.

The big man smiled wide. “Do you mean the killings?” He grinned full of teeth. “Not my most refined, I admit, but they do serve their purpose don’t you think?”

“What do you mean?” The blond said, barely containing himself. Why was no one alarmed by the man yet?? People were looking at them like a curiosity and no more!

“My clueless boy.” Then man laughed. “These people, don’t you see? There are a useless waste of energy. I’m doing them a favour really, by taking it. At least it’ll serve a greater purpose!” He exclaimed.

“What purpose?” The blond asked. This train was taking forever!

“Why you stupid boy. Change history!” The crazy man said. “Make myself a god amongst man, rewrite time itself and rule every land in the fire country.”

“So I was right. The jutsu you used didn’t work like you wanted!” Naruto said, smirking at the other shinobi. It was almost too easy. the man was practically monologuing by himself. He was just like the others Naruto apprehended on a weekly basis, a crazy world conquering/world destroying wannabe (There was irony in there somewhere). This one just had the interesting twist of time travelling jutsus on his side.

No biggy.

But to change history you had to go back in the past. This world was clearly not what the other man had intended. It had nothing to do with ninjas.

The smile turned ugly on the vilains face. A women not too far from him startled and finally got some sense as she walked to the other side of the car, whispering to a man besides her. The atmosphere in the car was getting thick.

“You should be ashamed of yourself child”. The man said in a calm voice. “After all, its because of you that this entire train will die.” His steely eyes fixed on him the whole time.

“What?” Naruto said. “Like hell I’d let you do that!”

Looking through the window form the corner of his eyes, Naruto finally saw a station coming into view. He felt relieved and prepared to take the other man by force with him outside. He braced himself. 

“If your weird Chakra hadn’t somehow interfered, I wouldn’t have had to kill all these people to built up the energy I need again. And since these pathetic civilians don’t even have chakra, I’ll have to make do with their life energy.” He sneered. “I’m surprised you aren’t dead. But with what I took, you’re just an insect in my way now.”

 _Kyuubi_. The blond ninja thought. It was Kurama that fucked the jutsu before it could work properly and protected him at the same time. He’d been right all along. Just as he thought that, Naruto saw the train station pass by the window. The train hadn’t stopped. It lurched a bit, once then twice.

Ichinorida laughed again at the visible confusion on the other boys face.

“You’re not a fast one are you?” The monster said. “Still wondering why no ones panicking?” He walked slowly towards the blond, Naruto trying to take steps back, not stopping until his back touched the door to the next passenger car. He really didn’t want to have to fight the guy here with all these people in close quarters! He looked around himself.

“I’ll give you something, because I’m generous like that.” The murder said, arms raised at his sides like a benevolent man. His eyes never left the blond ninja.

Naruto eyes snapped up to the man. Now more focused then ever. He didn’t fail to notice another station pass them by, the train never stopping. It gave another big lurch, people surprised and hanging on to their seats at the abruptness of it. Passengers around him were starting to be agitated, not understanding why the train was not stopping. Ichinorida smiled wide again.

“The train doesn’t have any brakes anymore!” The man said loudly, making sure to be heard by everyone.

As if the people around them finally grew some ears, the real panic began. At first it was disbelief, then whispering, then talking louder and louder, the noise and the panic travelling from passenger car to passenger car. Soon, everyone was panicking and screaming around him, finally realizing just why the train was not stopping.

Naruto’s eyes widened at the fear and alarm, but never left Ichinorida’s in the middle of the chaos. This was crazy!

“And you’ll get to watch as everyone dies because of you.” He said lowly, knowing Naruto would be able to hear every word clearly.

With that said, and before Naruto had time to do anything else, the other ninja jumped to the side and tore the sliding doors off from their place, leaping out into the open and disappearing. More passengers screamed in alarm at the sight.

“No!” The masked ninja said, intent on chasing the man down again. He had him right there damnit! He wasn’t done!

Naruto leaped after the man, putting his hand on the destroyed walls of the train to jump.

“Save us!” He heard from behind him. He stopped, shocked. Turning back around, he saw a young man on the ground of the train looking at him in the panic.

“Your Kyu-something right? Save us!” The man pleaded again.

He was an idiot. He didn’t have teammates now. He couldn’t count on Sai to save the civilians while he went after the bad guy anymore. He was in a world without ninjas. He wasn’t back home. He shook his head at himself. If what the fucker said was true, then this train was on a one way ticket to death’s doors.

He would find the guy after this and beat his ugly face in. That was a promise.

He gave a nod and a thumbs up towards the man, before jumping out the hole and climbing on top of the train with chakra infused in his hands and feet. The wind was blowing strongly, making it difficult for him to hang on and concentrate on his next move. He had to remember he couldn’t use his shadow clones in the open, not now. What Tsunade said was true: He couldn’t give that technique away if he wanted to stay hidden and protect his new friends.

Another station passed them by, the train appearing to go faster by the minute. He could still hear the people inside panicking as he made his way to the very front of the train, trying no to fall off. The surface was slippery with some persistant ice in some places, making it difficult for his chakra to hang on to a stable surface as the ice broke under him or detached. Ice-metal-ice-metal-ice ice-

Finally arriving at the front of the train, he tried looking through the window of the control room. There was a body lying on the ground and no one at the helm. Frustrated but with a plan in mind, Naruto found some purchase with his hands and flung himself feet first towards the window, braking through it and entering with a flip. He moved the body, uttering a small apology as he did but knowing it was already too late for the guy.

He was already devoid of energy, like the rest of the cadavers they’d found.

He looked at the dashboard of the train.

What he thought would be a simple control room was a whole panel of different buttons he had absolutely no understanding of. He thought trains used coals to work?!This was all electronic future crap he had now idea how to handle.

The tracks were bound to end somewhere, and Naruto did not want to be there when it would. Think.

Think.

Think.

Sasuke! The bastard along with Itachi were pilots, surely they could help him!

Taking his cellphone out, he dialled the number. It thankfully picked up on the second ring.

“Dobe, where are you? You’re late-“

“Sasuke! No time, I need your help!” Naruto yelled.

“What? What’s happening?” The dark haired man said. He heard the sound of feet walking and a door closing in the background.

“Listen, I’m on a freaking train and I need you to tell me how to engage the brakes on the thing!” Naruto said, hoping beyond hope that they had enough time still.

“What the hell dobe!” He heard on the other side of the line.

“Sasuke! I followed Ichinorida here and he’s trying to kill everyone on board. I need you to help me right now. We don’t have time! How do I stop this thing?!” The blond said, getting desperate. All the buttons looked the same to him. 

Maybe his tone of voice did it, but somehow Sasuke cursed at the end of the line and started talking rapidly.

“Okay okay, so New-York model trains are usually the R160. But maybe you got an older model like the R143. Where are you right now?!” The black haired man asked.

“On the freaking moving train you doofus!” Naruto yelled.

“No you absolutely moron! What station! I need to know what was the last station station you passed!”

Naruto looked up ahead just as they passed an other station, its people on the platform shook as the wind from the speeding train hit them full force.

“Canal! Canal Station!” Naruto yelled into the phone. He was starting to hear the people inside the train panic more and more. He heard a loud noise coming from outside and upon looking out the window noticed a huge flying thing hundreds of meters from them in the air. It looked a bit like a flying car. He didn’t have time for this!

He snapped back to Sasuke when he heard the bastard mutter to himself on the phone for a few seconds about lines and stations. He briefly heard what he thought was Itachi in the background as well.

“Okay, okay. Its a R143! On the panel in front of you, you’re supposed to have a big red lever and a black one! Don’t touch any of the buttons on the side. The two levers should be down, not up. You push down the black one first slowly to decrease the speed, then the red one to stop it.” Sasuke explained in a rush for the blond.

The blond ninja Looked around, sweat gathering at the back of his neck from the stress. A heavy silence followed.

“Well? Is it working??”He heard on the line.

“Sasuke, How long until we hit a literal wall?” Naruto said with a calm he never knew he possessed. He saw something sleek and black on the floor.

“Judging by the average speed, the lack of stops, and the station you told me, you have maybe 10km tops before hitting the Central station.” Sasuke said.

“How long?!” Naruto asked again.

“Minutes! You have minutes! Why??” The ebony haired man answered.

“There are no levers anymore. They were ripped off” The blond said. He hung up on the screaming voice of his friend. He put the phone back in his pocket, not bothering to answer when it immediately began to ring again.

He was not about to let hundreds of people die because of him.

He was Uzumaki _fucking_ Naruto. Shinobi of Konohagakure.

Jaw set and eyes determined through the fox mask, the blond made his way to the broken window. Grabbing on the to edge, he once again flung himself outside and in front of the train. The flying thing was still in the air, following the train in its race against time.

Placing himself directly in front, he amassed his chakra together to put it in his legs and upper body.

Stopping the train in one shot would derail it. He would have to try and do it gradually. Most of his attacks and techniques would just destroy a part of it. His wind wouldn’t do much. His Rasengan was useless. All that was left was his strength and chakra. Without Kurama’s power however..... He just hoped he was enough.

_Well, this is going to hurt._ Was his last thought, as he jumped down on the tracks, keeping his arms and back on the front of the train and legs straight in front of him. He just, used his legs to slow the damn thing down and brake. The chakra circling his body giving him strength and allowing him to not break his legs and feet in a million pieces just yet. He saw the wood break under him and the metal of the tracks bend-

He screamed as it tore through him, the force of it jarring. He kept his chakra going, feeding his legs everything he had.

The train gave a huge _lurch_ , its people inside thrown on the ground hard. It swayed and staggered, its movements uncontrollable. The shock of it had one of the middle cars derailed and fall on its side, its window exploding and the noise grating to the city around it. It tried to drag the other passenger cars with it, but the others bent and held on. The speed decreased, the last station finally in view.

The train stopped.

————————————

There was a white noise in his ears. His head felt stuffy. Everything hurt. He’d blacked out without meaning to. The dust wasn’t finished settling, so it mustn’t have been for long.

Naruto tried to move.

He knew he had to get out of there before anyone could find him. He knew it was important, he had to get up and go. Somehow, in his bruised brain he knew that if he got caught here, it would be bad for him.

Go go go go gogo.

He tried dragging his mangled body by his arms and found resistance in his legs. Looking back on them through half lidded eyes, Naruto saw that he was partly submerged by the dirt of the tracks. His mask was besides him, having fallen on the ground like him. Shaking his head a little to try and clear the fog, Naruto continued to pull himself out of the rubble. His lids were heavy, something wet and thick falling across them from his airline. He couldn’t give up yet.

Not yet.

Wiping the blood from his face with a tired hand, Naruto gave himself one last pull, finally managing to free himself.

And promptly blacked out again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All knowledge of trains was taken out of google and my ass.   
> On a good note, I am out of the hospital. Yay!


End file.
